A Coming of Age Story: The Frittle
by Cutie Emo Panda
Summary: Thanks to Rukia, my summers in Seireitei were never dull. Thinking back now, I can honestly say that it was because of her that my life changed for the better...I'll never forget her.
1. Chapter 1

I wasn't going to post this till _after _I finished My Paramour... But I had my phone on shuffle and this song came up that completely pushed my resolve to post it early. There are only two chapters left of it so... I thought why not?

I'll be doing something a little bit differently with this story. In each chapter, there will be lyrics to a song that in some way corresponds to the chapter. I'll put the song at the end of the story so if you want to check them out you can! Remember that it's only the lyrics that relate and rarely the actual mood of the song so I don't really recommend listening to them while reading this. But think of them as actual part of the story because they will be there to give a premise for the emotion or to tell an extra something about the chapter that isn't explicitly stated in the actual story.

Also, this is an AU. But it's not like our world AU but one that I made up. Maybe if you've read my story 'Beneath the Penumbra' you would understand this kind of real world/ not real world AU is more of places based on our world but sort of different. Think of this world as like the 20s. There is electricity, cars, boats, trains (but no planes). But they lack certain enhancements such as computers and electronic toys.

**Chapter 1**

* * *

_Just a day, just an _

_Ordinary day_

_Just trying to get by_

* * *

The day was sunny and I was sweating through my shirt and shorts. I didn't like the city. Seireitei was the capital of Seishin and where my dad was from, so we would come here every summer break since I was born. Alright, so I had just turned four the week before. But still, I had made up my mind that the city was no place to spend your summer.

Unlike our little island of Karakura, Seireitei was large and noisy. The houses were cramped together, the streets were crowded, and there wasn't even a place to go swimming in. My mom would say that there were many things to do in Seireitei; I just had to look for them. It was definitely not my lack of ability to find something to do, I kept telling her.

At the moment, I was sitting on my porch. I had asked my parents why I couldn't have any siblings to play with. If I had some, maybe I would have a little more fun playing things like hopscotch, backgammon, and cops and robbers. Picking myself off my seat, I walked out of the gates of our small backyard. I should not have done that since I really didn't know my way around, but I reasoned with my conscience that I wasn't leaving the neighborhood, just walking around.

I weaved in and out of houses, keeping close track of what I passed so I could find my way home. That was the easy part. Despite what most people thought, I wasn't as dumb as I looked. And yes, I admit that I probably look like the typical lazy little kid.

As I walked farther down the street, I found a small clearing no bigger than a small room within one of surrounding small houses. In the center was a large, healthy looking tree. The leaves were all different shades of green as they sat above strong and deep pear wood.

I walked a bit closer to the tree and cautiously placed my palm at the base of its trunk. We had many of these trees in Karakura, but I was surprised to see one sitting in the middle of such an urban area. I never would have thought that people here knew the unlimited amount possibilities you could have with a tree: tree houses, climbing, swings, adventures, and much more.

I looked around to find that there was no one around as far as I could see. Letting out a heavy sigh I took a seat on one of the submerging roots. Then, I felt something small and hard hit the base of my neck.

"Itai!" I yelped.

I turned my head frantically and saw a small red pebble lying on the ground. I picked it up carefully and felt the sharpness of its edges. Then I heard a small snicker from above me. I looked up to, at first, see only the leaves, but as I looked closer I began to see the outline of four feet, two small and two big.

"Hey!" I called out to the people up in the tree. "Hey! Did you throw this?"

"Oi," the one with larger feet said, "do you think he's talking to us?"

I could feel my eye twitch. "Of course I'm talking to you! I'm not talking to the tree!"

There was a chuckle from the smaller footed person. The heels swung about almost as if they were a paper in the wind. I found it a little strange that they were bare footed.

"So you arn as bum as you wook," the smaller footed one screamed out. This one had a bad case of the lazy tongue. I knew since I had just grown out of that bad habit.

"I'm not as what as I what?" I shot back.

"I ake back wah I saiv," she snidely shot back.

I felt my eye twitch again. I couldn't really see their faces well as they were obscured by the shadows of the tree but I knew that the bigger footed one was a boy and the smaller footed one was a girl who really needs some speech classes. As we argued, I could still feel the sweat coming from my brow. The sun was relentless. Not that Karakura was less heated, but at least we had a lake and much more trees to keep shade under.

"You threw that rock at me didn't you," I pouted, "Don't be cowards and show me your faces. Or are you all scaredy cats."

I then noticed that the smaller pair had disappeared for a second before a head then came swinging down. It was the girl's. Her eyes were wide and held the most curious shade of dark blue that when the sun fell on her perfectly made them look almost purple. Her black hair was wispily blowing in the small breeze that passed by us making her already tiny and thin body seem even smaller. She wore denim shorts and a white baby-doll dress that she tried to hold down with her hands. Her face was slowly turning pink as the blood began to rush to her head.

"I am non a scary cah," she pouted her rose bud lips and then began to giggle a little bit, "Was your mame?"

I just looked at her for a little bit, processing what she had just asked me. When I did, I took in a deep breath ready to answer. But then I was interrupted.

"Rukia!" The big footed one called out, "You're going to pass out again." His worried tone was that of how I wanted to sound when I finally got my own little siblings.

"Renji," She whined out then shushed him, "I wan oo listen oo his answer!" She then relaxed her neck and her head began to swing once more, this time even redder than before. "So was your mame?"

I blinked a bit. "Uh," I uttered, "I'm Ichigo."

I expected a chuckle or another laugh, the usual reaction to my name. But she never did it. She only smiled at me, "So who are you pro-ecking?"

Something in my heart began to come alive. I was feeling a little bubbly inside, as if there was a little song that had just arisen in the metronome of my heart. I wasn't sure if it was her comment, pure innocence, or smile that had just lightened my day a bit more, but something did.

I smiled back at her, which made her grin wider, "No one yet! But my mommy says that it should be the one that holds my heart!"

That was when she began to laugh. Her body swung back and forth and shook with her giggles. Renji was screaming at her now to sit back upright while she just continued to mock and whine at him. They were a weird pair. He seemed older than me, and definitely older than her. When I decided to ask her, she just stopped laughing but still with that girlish smile spread across her lips. Holding out one hand she gave me an 'M' with her fingers.

"Three!" she proudly stated. Just then she fell from where she was with a loud thud. My eyes were wide with worry; she lay on the floor clutching her head in pain. I crouched down by her and asked if she was alright. I was scared she was going to wail out and attract unwanted attention from the houses nearby, but to my surprise, she began to make some strange hand signals the boy in the tree with a pained expression on her face.

I gave her a questioning look as she turned back to me.

"It's a secret sign language we made up," the boy who was in the tree jumped down, "She just told me that I will regret that when I sleep."

"Renji!" the girl shouted at him, "Is nah a secwet if you say oo udder people!"

"Ah," Renji whined, "Rukia, we can tell him." He gave me a smile, "this little guy has some spunk and I like it. He was able to talk back to you."

Rukia gave out a little pout of her already bubbled lips and stuck her tongue out at the both of us. She pulled herself up to her feet and patted down her white dress that now had dirt spots on its edges but she seemed to take no care in it. After wiping off some of the dust on her feet she placed a finger between her two eyes.

"Now she just called me a meanie," Renji explained. He lifted a fist and swung it in front of his face as Rukia stuck her tongue out at him once more. "And I just said 'back at you'."

I looked back at Rukia who just had her arms crossed in front of her chest, still a pout present on her features. She took a deep breath and a smile returned to her face as she walked up to both of us. With a raise of her fist, she gave a firm punch to both of our arms.

"Ow!" Renji and I wailed out, both of us rubbing our abused muscles.

"Okay, ay wet him join ow gwoop," Rukia pointed a finger at me, her eyes glistening with mischief, "if hees cam cwimb da chwee!"

I paused to think of what exactly she said. I then realized that they were staring at me, waiting for me to start climbing the tree. I smirked at them confidently and reached up to grab a stubble of a branch. Using that I was able to pull myself up and put my foot into a small dent in the bark. Climbing was easy; Karakura had so many trees that all you could really do with them was climb. I heard some scratching from under me and looked down to see that Rukia was following close behind.

"Whah aw you ooing! Keep goin'!" She yelled at me.

I shook off the shocked feeling I had in my stomach and continued up the tree. I reached up and grabbed the last branch that brought me to the top. I scooted over to allow room for Rukia and Renji to climb up as well. I scratched my head and ducked lower so that my head wouldn't break the roof of the canopy. I had always known pear trees to be very small and fragile, but this one held our weight so nicely. It felt safe and sturdy.

"I made it you see," I said cockily.

Rukia completely ignored my boast as she balanced herself on the branch. Renji gave her a helping hand as he too made it to the top with us. She looked at me with her large, baby eyes and shot up so that her head disappeared above the leaves. Renji motioned for me to follow as he did the same.

I nodded and did my best to push my way up through the tightly knit leaves. Picking out some twigs from my hair, I grumbled something under my breath about how easy the 'test' was.

"Istigo!" Rukia yelled. I was going to tell her not to shout so loud, that I was right next to her. "Was you see?"

She pointed her finger to the view we now had beyond the closely built houses.

"I see Seireitei," I stated.

Rukia rolled her eyes and hit me on the head, causing me to almost lose my footing on the branch we were standing on.

"I know iss Seiwei-ei!" She turned her attention back to the city, "buh wah else?"

I looked back and saw what I saw before, Seireitei, a city with tall buildings, noisy cars, and unbelievable amounts of smoke filling the sky.

I told her this and she only shook her head in disapproval.

"Rukia," Renji poked the back of her head, "The sun's going to set soon."

Rukia looked back over her shoulder along with me. The sun was just touching the roof of the houses, its gold rays shining back at us. Rukia shaded her eyes with her hand, the purple hue disappearing back in deep midnight blue. She huffed out a sigh of defeat and started to climb back down.

"Wait," I called out to her and Renji. I quickly followed them down, calling to them again, "Wait!"

Renji stopped first, Rukia soon did after. They looked at me, waiting for a reason for their delay. I hadn't actually known why I asked them to stop. I hadn't really even known them for a day. And yet, at the moment I felt like I wanted to know them, I wanted to see them again. I wanted to see her.

"Wah?" She asked with a hand on her hip, feigning impatience.

I stood there nervously as my feet were fidgeting against the root of the trees. "Do..." I began but stopped. "What did you see up there?"

She straightened and looked at me as if never expecting to be asked. But as a smirk came up to her face, I knew that she had really been waiting for me to ask all along.

"Come ear ah noon oomah-woah," She yelled with a smile, "aisle 'ell you den!"

Renji tugged on the hem of her dress, pleading for her to hurry away with him. She swatted his hand away with a playful smile and his presence seemed to dim into the background, though he stood in the same place.

"How do I know that you're going to be here tomorrow?" I asked.

She looked up, as if the answer were just there for her to take out of the air. She looked back at me and smiled before walking over. She pulled out something from her denim pocket and motioned for me to open up my palm. I did and she placed something round and hard into my hand.

"I nee dis in o'der oo buy a dwop of cannee for Renji's bir'day," She whispered, "So I'll come back oo get dis."

When I looked down, I saw that it was a copper coin with the words '2 Piin' engraved at the bottom. It wasn't worth much. It couldn't buy you even one drop of candy from a corner store. But the copper seemed darker, older than the ones that would sometimes fall out of my mother's purse.

"Rukia!" Renji called out to her from where he stood, "Buta-sama is going to be mad!"

"Uhming!" Rukia cheered and ran back to Renji's side. They both waved and she yelled out a goodbye, "See you oomah-woah Istygo!"

I blushed as she said my name, "My surname is Kurosaki."

"Why would I 'all you Oorosaki?" She stopped and tilted her head to the side.

I looked at her stunned. In my shock I was able to mutter out, "J-just to b-be polite."

Renji chuckled out loud. "You're part of the group now Ichigo! We aren't formal anymore," he laughed, "not like we ever were really."

As they walked off, I smiled. When they disappeared behind the houses, I turned and ran as fast as I could back home. My small fist were clenching as hard as they could onto that small copper coin. My feet were flying as I rushed back down the gaps between the houses and back into our small yard. The patio door was left unlocked to my relief and I stepped inside.

There my mom stood with a large bowl that she was mixing. The room smelled like vanilla and almonds. She gave me a sweet smile and placed the bowl down. Her hands came to rest on her bulging stomach and she soothingly rubbed it in a circle.

"You have an awfully large smile Ichigo," She said to me. "Did something really good happen while you went off playing?"

She slowly took a seat across from where I sat on the table. My hands still held tightly onto the copper coin.

"N-not really," I said with a small blush, "Where's dad?"

She gave me a skeptical look, but brushed off my eagerness to change the subject. "He's upstairs sleeping early. Choosing baby names is hard work for your father." I nodded absent mindedly. She smirked and looked away, starting to talk as if talking about the weather, "You know, it would be nice if you could help us choose one…"

My ears immediately popped up as I stared back at her. I was quickly by her side, jumping up and down with excitement at the offer.

"I get to choose a name? I get to choose a name?" I repeated over and over again.

My mom threw her head back in laughter, her white teeth having no decency at all. "Of course you can!"

"A-alright," I stuttered a bit. I bit my tongue and twisted my face in a way that I always did when "thinking" utterly hard. Being offered to choose a name of my younger sibling was a big deal for me. It had to be perfect. My mind turned and flipped, running so many different traits I wanted from a younger sibling. But my mind kept wandering back to that forgotten tree that sat between the houses, and my encounter with Rukia and Renji…

"Ichigo," My mother cut through my thoughts, "do have a name?"

I didn't answer right away, only looked at her warm eyes. "Yah…"

"Really? What is it?"

"Karin," I said with a smile.

"Karin," my mom repeated, feeling as the syllables rolled off her tongue. "And is that for a boy or girl?"

"I-I don't know," I pouted. I hadn't really thought of that part yet. The name just came to me. "Both I guess."

"You guess," she smiled and lovingly down flicked my nose. I laughed like I did every time. "Wow, it really is hot. You're sweating like a dog too!" She ruffled my hair that was sticking with my perspiration. "I just made some tea, I'll pull out a few cubes of ice from the chest to make it colder. How does that sound?"

I smiled and nodded my head in agreement. She got up with a small groan and went to prepare some iced tea for me. I walked over and tried to peer into the bowl she had been mixing when I came in earlier. When she finished, she handed me a cup, the one with blue birds on a telephone pole.

"I'm making cookies, so that tomorrow you can have some to eat." She told me. She bent down and gave me a small kiss on the cheek, which I gave her a huge grin for. "When you're done with that, go up stairs and clean off all that dirt on your face."

I nodded and quickly finished my iced tea. I gave her a small hug and rushed over to the stairs. I went half way up before going back down. An idea had crossed my mind.

"What is it Ichigo?" my mom asked.

"Mom, can you pack my cookies instead tomorrow? I'm going back to play again." I said in a hurry.

"Sure Ichigo," She smiled warmly at me.

"A-and can you pack a lot! I-I might be out long," I continued.

"Sure Ichigo."

With my excitement building, I turned and ran back up the stairs, still holding tightly onto that copper, 2 piin coin.

* * *

I ran down stairs the moment I had opened my eyes. My body was still a little flaccid from sleep but I did my best not to run into any walls or fall down the steps. With a small slide, I made it into the kitchen where I found my mother with a plate of food. She gave me a sweet smile and set it down on the table.

"Good morning Ichigo," she said.

I smiled back at her and took a seat, "G'monring mom!" I took a bite, shoving the contents on my plate.

"Slow down there Ichigo." My mom and I both looked up at the sound of my dad's voice as he came down the stairs. His eyes were half lidded as he was still trying to get used to the bright morning sun. He walked over and ruffled my hair, "remember your food is dead so it won't be moving anywhere anytime soon."

"Isshin!" My mom pointed her fork at my father with an expression that I used to like to call '_the tiger stare'_.

"What?" My dad grinned widely and gave her a big smooch on her left cheek. I turned away, always feeling uncomfortable when my parents would show unnecessary forms of affection. My mom had noticed my eyes trying their hardest to avoid them and she laughed.

"Aw, Ichigo," she cooed, "Mommy will always love you too! Now let me give you a big smooch." And thus she leaned across the table, grabbing my two cheeks tenderly and tried to force her lips onto my face. I struggled with a smile on my face and laughter caught in my throat.

My dad chuckled and gently pulled my mom back. "Alright, so Ichigo, what has you all in a hurry that you feel the need to inhale your food?"

I was half way done with my breakfast, and two-thirds done with chewing a bit in my mouth. Swallowing hard I managed to cough out, "I just really want to finish so I can go outside and play." I dove in for another mouthful of rice. Wiping my mouth with my sleeves I held my plate out to my mom, "All done!" and pushing my chair out, I rushed to put on my shoes that were laying by the back door.

"Hold on racer," my mom chuckled. She lifted herself up and grabbed a bag from the table. "These are the cookies I made yesterday. I put a few extra ones in there like you asked." She squatted down to my level on the floor and placed the bag in my tiny hands. "Be sure to have fun and stay safe alright?"

Giving her a peck on the cheek I gave her a thumb up. "I will!"

And with that I bolted out the door. This morning was a little chillier than the day before but I could tell it would still be hot and humid. I followed the trail of houses like I had done before and made my way to the pear tree. When the green leaves came into view, I had had expected the two of them to be up on one of the branches, legs swinging in impatience. But I was there alone.

For a moment I panicked, I searched all around the base of the tree, climbed it, and looked out around the small area. They weren't there. So I waited. I stood there up above the canopy looking out over the rooftops. My head tilted to the side, trying my hardest to see whatever Rukia could and I could not see. I hadn't known how long I stood up there just looking at the landscape, but I knew that it was long enough that I almost lost all feeling in my legs and my stomach cried out for more food. I was tempted to eat a cookie from the bag but restrained myself. I wanted us three to eat them all together.

"Itsygo!"

I looked down to see who had called my name, not that I didn't already know who it was. Only one person had ever called me such an odd way. Rukia and Renji were walking from around the corner of one of the houses, their hands frantically waving around them. Carefully, I made my way down from the top branch and met them half way.

"You guys are late!" I exclaimed much angrier than I had planned on being. Both of them looked at me surprised at the coarse greeting.

Rukia pointed up at the sky, a look of pure innocence upon her face. "I say noon."

I looked up and had to shield my eyes. The Sun was directly overhead, it was noon. I blushed in embarrassment but quickly composed myself.

"I-I brought your piin back," I stuttered. She smiled at me and held out her hand. I placed the 2 piin in her outstretched palm which she quickly shoved into one of her pockets. I took note that they were barefoot again.

"Piin?" Renji stared at the both of us confused.

"No'ing Renji," she smiled politely at him. "Oh, you ed you wanna know wah I saw up der?" She asked but didn't really seem to want an answer to because immediately after asking she made a run for the tree and started climbing. Renji followed after, not fazed at all by her restlessness.

When I made it to the top branch with them, I looked back out over the houses, to the crowded streets and small brick buildings, things Karakura didn't have. Rukia spread open her arms, welcoming a small breeze that passed us by.

"You wanna know wah I see Itsygo?" She asked, not expecting an answer, "Der is no'ing, so I see erieding!"

"That doesn't make sense," I stated.

"She means that she can make all this into anything," Renji clarified for me with a smile on his face. He looked out in wonder at the scene before us, as though that was what he too saw. "I didn't used to believe it, but when Rukia showed it to me a few weeks ago, I really see it! What your heart is into it, you can make this place into anything you want!" I still didn't get it, I still saw the smog, the buildings, the loud bells and horns, and I just couldn't imagine it.

"Jus forre' abou' eh," Rukia shouted at me, he eyes filled with determination to make me see what she saw, "Jus forre' abou' de noises," she put her hands over my ears, "Jus forre' abou' de ings you see and 'ink abou' der bein' rees! Los of rees!"

I looked into her eyes and though all the sounds around me were muffled, her will seemed to speak louder to me. Her irises had turned a deep purple as they concentrated on me. She slowly let her hands slip from my ears and the sounds began to poor back into me. But they seemed different in a way, I wasn't sure how though until I turned back to the landscape of the city. Only this time, it seemed cleaner. I could still see the smog and crowed streets, but at the same time I couldn't. It was strange to me, to see it in this way, this new way.

In my revelation, I had been too occupied to notice that Rukia and Renji had climbed back down.

"Oi," Renji yelped, "What's this?"

I looked down to see that he was rubbing his head with one hand and holding a bag with the other. Realizing that I had seemed to have dropped the cookies I fumbled down the tree, muttering apologies. When I got down, Rukia was already doing her best to try and sooth Renji.

"S-sorry," I took the bag from him and tried to open it fast. Inside, the cookies were already crushed and broken. I tilted my head back in frustration, "they were cookies my mom made." I pulled out a piece and looked at it sadly. "It should still taste good though," I said, "Try them, my mom makes good cookies!"

Renji didn't take it. He only looked at it a little warily; his brow scrunched a bit in debate. Rukia only rolled her eyes and did not hesitate to grab the piece from my hand and forcefully shove it into Renji's mouth. She then reached into the bag herself and forcefully shoved another piece into my mouth.

"Dere!" She screeched in delight and took a piece for herself, "now dah we are all ea'ing happiwee – wow is good! – you nee oo do one moe 'ing…"

"This_ is _really good," Renji marveled.

"Sih down," Rukia urged. Though for her it really wasn't an urge rather than a command. So I did and so did Renji. She looked over to Renji, as if asking for permission for something. He nodded and smiled at me. "O'ay," she started, "we are goin oo 'each you ow oo do ow'er seecweh lan-lan..lan…" She struggled to say the last word.

"Language," Renji helped. "Now that you're part of the group, you need to know the secret language. So that whenever there are other people we can talk. It's not hard. You should know it so that tomorrow we can do lots of stuff!"

Tomorrow… There was something about that that seemed important. "Uh," my face twisted, trying to remember, "I think I'm leaving tomorrow…to go back home."

The two had been reaching to grab another broken cookie from the bag but stopped. Renji had just pulled one out while Rukia was about to put her hand into the bag. They looked at me as though I had grown a second head.

"You leavin' oomorrow?" Rukia repeated.

"Yah," I answered apologetically, "I think I am…but I'm sure I'll come back next year though!"

"Buh das nes year!" Rukia shouted as though that were the most obvious thing in the world. "Nes year you migh for'eh dis!"

"I won't!" I shouted back. And she was silent, just looking at me with a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "I-I won't forget any of this, so teach me, and I'll come back next year and we can do a lot of things like Renji said."

The two of them looked at me, not saying a word. Renji was the first to return to normal, taking a bite out of his piece of cookie. "You promise right? Then I believe you Ichigo."

Rukia turned back to glance at Renji just calmly eating his cookie. She made a small grunting sound and reluctantly accepted my promise too. And so we spent the day with them teaching me words in their secret language. Sometimes Renji would do a sign and Rukia would argue that he was doing it wrong then do the exact same thing. When I pointed this out to her she would pout and insist the she did it better than, followed with the phrase, "I may dis uf ayeeways."

When I would do it wrong, she would stop me with a shake of her head, reach over, grab my hands, and move them in the correct motions. While she did it, she looked so concentrated that I thought her eyes crossed at some points. And that was how I learned. At first with just one word at a time, but towards the end they started stringing together into phrases, then sentences till soon we were almost ready to have an entire conversation. I was signing slower than the two of them, and sometimes I couldn't keep up with their fast moving hands, but I was getting better as the sun began to set.

"Rukia," Renji said out loud, "The sun's setting, we should go."

Her lower lip protruded and she crossed her arms in annoyance, "Aw Renji!"

"I don't want Buta-sama to yell at us! And I know you don't want her to yell at you again."

Rukia shuttered at the thought of this Buta-sama yelling at her sometime before and reluctantly took Renji's outstretched hand of help. "You romiss you'll be 'ere nes year as de same 'ime?" She asked me, eyes gleaming up at me.

I looked up, thinking for a moment for the words. Then remembering the movements, I pointed a finger to myself, and then proceeded to draw an 'X' over my heart. Rukia only gave me a toothy grin but still remained skeptical.

"Ow do I know you are 'elling de rooth?" She pointed an incriminating finger at me.

"Come here tomorrow," I said, "I'll be here tomorrow morning and I'll show you I'm telling the truth."

She nodded her head in agreement and allowed Renji to pull her away.

* * *

The same seen from the morning before played out. I woke up, my legs a little wobbly from sleep, and headed to eat my breakfast. My dad came down, asking me why I was in a hurry to finish, that our boat wasn't going to leave for another few hours and that we still had time to enjoy our food before devouring it. I just said I wanted to play outside one last time before we left.

I ran as fast as I could to the pear tree that stood between the houses. There waiting against the bark was Rukia. She pushed herself off of the sturdy wood and made her way over to me, not asking any questions, just waiting for me to prove my point. I motioned for her to hold out a hand, she did. I reached into the back pocket of my pants, and pulled out a crinkled piece of paper.

"My mommy says that next year I'm going to have a new baby sibling," I told her, "and I want to give it this picture I drew last night. So I have to come back and get it okay?" I placed the paper into her hands. She nodded at me and gingerly opened it.

I had drawn a little red oval with eyes and a shaky looking blob with orange spikes at the top. She turned it sideways and tilted her head another way. "Was dis say?" She pointed to a black arrow I had draw with words scribbled on top.

"Karin," I said confidently, "Can't you tell? Ka-rin…"

She didn't look at me. "I don know how oo read." Shed folded the paper back up and shoved it into her own pocket. "So wah if is a girl?"

I was taken aback by her question. What if it was a girl? "Karin can be a girl's name!" I said defensively.

She shook her head, "Is can be. Buh you nee som'ing dah is nah so sewious…" She placed a finger on her chin in thought, "ligh Yuzu!"

"The name is literally not so serious," I clarified.

She nodded. "Mhm, I have oo go now. You romiss oo come back?"

I made the 'X' over my heart, "Promise." Then suddenly remembering, I reached back into my pocket and pulled out some copper coins. "Here, to help with Renji's birthday present." I had found them under the couch the night before and immediately thought of the small 2 piin coin she had shown me.

She took them and thanked me. Then, without a moment's hesitation, she punched me on arm. I yelped in pain, demanding what it was for.

"You be'er com back you ear?" she told me, "or else I'm goin' oo punch you arder nes 'ime!"

"I will, I will," I muttered, my hand rubbing the sore spot on my arm.

She turned on her heel to leave, a hand high in the air waving back to me. "See yah Itsygo!" she shouted before disappearing around the corner of a house.

The boat had long since left the harbor of Seireitei, and we were off to go back home to Karakura. The boat didn't directly go there though; it only took passengers to the island of Hokutan (which took a day and a half if the waters were generous). From there you had to catch a ride from one of the small trade boats back to Karakura that was about another three days of rocking and swaying. My head was leaning on the edge of the boat, an arm dangling over the edge.

"Feeling alright Ichigo?" My ad asked, smacking me hard on the back. I turned and raised a fist up to him and his roughness.

"I'm fine!" I insisted.

"Of course he's fine," my mom rubbed my back soothingly. "I'm pretty sure he's glad that we're out of the city and heading home. We'll be on Karakura shore in a few days Ichigo."

I smiled up to her and rubbed the back of my neck, "A-actually mom, I was hoping we could go back to Seireitei next summer break. I-I kind of l-like it there."

Both of my parents looked at me as if I had grown another head. Then my dad exploded with laughing, hitting me once again on the back. "I thought you hated the city? Well, a change of heart is never unhealthy!"

"Oh, don't tease the boy so much Isshin, look he's blushing!"

I hadn't noticed how red my face was until she pointed that out. I quickly turned back to the open sea and leaned against the railing again. They must have thought that I had long since stopped listening to their conversation but still went on.

"Honestly your son," my dad was shaking his head in amusement, "He complains the whole boat ride there and wants to return the whole boat ride back? I sometimes wonder how I could have ever made such a confusing little boy."

"Don't say that Isshin," I could imagine my mom bumping him in the hip, "you know you did the same thing when you were first stationed in Karakura. You came mumbling all day about how small and boring our little island was, your patients sometimes thought you were grumbling to a ghost!" She laughed. "But when you were told to go back the following year you pleaded with the main hospital to allow you stay, talk about mixed messages. He gets it from _you,_ you know."

My dad chuckled, and I shuddered as I heard their lips touch.

"Well yes," my dad responded sheepishly, "But that was only because I found that Karakura had the one thing Seireitei didn't: the most amazing woman I will ever meet."

"You flatter me."

She didn't say more. I allowed my lips to curve into a smile. I guess it wasn't until much later did I realize that I related to my father in more ways than just sharing the same blood.

* * *

_Just a boy, just an_

_Ordinary boy but_

_He was looking to the sky_

* * *

**End Chapter 1**

Well, there's the first chapter. It's slow I know but... I hope you like it and think there is some potential :)

So a **piin (pronounced as pin) **is the value of their coins, coppers being worth the least. There are 10 piin (larger copper coin), 20 piin (small silver coin), and 50 piin (larger silver coin). It's the typical 100 piin will equal to one **sen (pronounced the way it's spelled) **or paper money**. **Don't worry, you don't have to remember this, I won't put too much money stuff in this story :P

No, they do not have the technology to determine whether a baby is a boy or a girl. And Karin's name in Kanji means 'Summer Pear Tree' if you didn't know so… yes :D

And in this world, like in Asia, the names determine your closeness to a person. Saying the last name means you're the least familiar with a person, saying the first name out right means you are really familiar with a person. And if you add honorifics it also determines how familiar you are. 'Chan' and 'kun' are terms of endearment so it means you are closer than just saying the names out right. 'San' means you are not as close and 'sama' is a term of respect. But what trumps all is if you have a nick name given to you. This means that you are so close, you can do that.

If you have any questions about this story or the world please let me know :) This story will take a lot out of me and a lot of effort so... Please review and tell me what you think!

The song lyrics are from Ordinary Day by Vanessa Carlton


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you to all who reviewed the first chapter ^_^ I'm so happy that you all liked it and will continue to read on ;) But anyways, more explanations:

So because there is no electricity, time is told based on these huge things in all cities and towns called a Time Tower. These things are wired to work in unison and with all the other Time Towers within their time zone. And each zone is timed to work so it is in sync with all the other zones with Time Towers in the rest of this world. They all work in the same system. They have two large bells (think _Hunchback of Nostradamus_) that will ring every hour. There is a higher pitched bell and a lower pitched bell. The higher pitched one rings in the hours in the morning, while the lower pitched will ring in the afternoon. So 'am' is high and 'pm' would be low. Then midnight and noon are signaled by the two bells ring together once.

Now this doesn't mean there are no watches and stuff. Because there are, but remember that they are analog not digital ;) But the Time Towers are magically set to be in time with each other and so therefore are the ultimate sources of time.

**Chapter 2**

* * *

_Well they can take, take, take the kids from the summer_

_But they'll never, never, never take the summer from me_

_It was the very first time that I lost my mind for a week_

* * *

We pulled into port around lunch time, my stomach was growling, and I was tired from the days at sea. I had just turned five the day before. There were candles, cake, and my father was even able to get the captain to come down to the passenger's dinning to wish me a happy birthday. He had tilted his hat and introduced himself as Captain Juushiro Ukitake, captain of one of the best naval ships in all of Seireitei. And as exciting as that was, the feeling was overridden for my eagerness to see Rukia and Renji again.

I had never forgotten them. In fact, just impress them and prove them wrong, every day I had practiced in front of a mirror the secret signs they had taught me. I deemed myself now a professional; I could even write my own book on it, even if I was five.

I wanted to tell them about the things that had happened in my life since I had last seen them. (One being the birth of my twin baby sisters, Yuzu and Karin) All year, I had tried to keep the memories of the best moments so as not to bore them, but I had a hard time remembering them as my feet hit creaking wood of the docks.

When we got to the house, I did all I could to help my dad unload our trunks from the cart. The year before, it was my father, my mother, and me taking everything out, but with Karin and Yuzu in her arms, my dad and I were on our own. After the first trunk was lifted off, I was exhausted, though I would never tell my father that. I forged on. My mother stayed behind a bit to give the cart driver his payment, and stayed outside till he rounded the corner and disappeared.

Our house resonated when the time tower stroked its low tone bell three times, indicating that it was three in the afternoon. For a moment, I had forgotten the whole reason I was so eager to be here in the first place. From the top floor of our house, I ran down and pulled on my shoes. It didn't matter that my left was on my right, and my right on my left.

"What's the hurry Ichigo?" my mother asked while trying to hush a crying Yuzu.

"I-I just really want to play outside i-is all…" I responded while opening the back door.

I rushed out when it opened and was only able to hear my mother shout out to me to be back before dark, and the door slammed shut.

I ran up and down the houses, looking for any sign that I was coming close to the pear tree in the small clearing. Unfortunately for me, I hadn't really thought that I would ever forget my way around. In my mind, I only imagined all the amazing things Renji said we would do when I came back. But it wasn't long before my biggest worry was that I was going to be lost in the labyrinth of houses.

I searched up and down the rows of homes, trying to see if any of them registered in my memories of a year ago. Of course, none of them did.

"Ichigo!"

My head lifted at the sound of my name being called. I looked around but saw no one.

"Ichigo!"

And there it happened again! I was now beginning to think that I was hearing the wind calling out to me.

"You're not doing it right baka, Ichigo!"

The voice was different this time around, more high pitched and girlish.

"Over here Ichigo! Over here! Follow my voice!"

And I did. The two voices kept shouting out my name and telling me to follow them. Soon enough, I came across the pear tree. It looked as though it had grown even more since I had seen it last, and standing atop it was Rukia and Renji.

"Took you long enough," Renji called down.

Rukia though, wasted no time for greetings and jumped down. It must have been three or four meters the tree, and to a small and tiny four year old like Rukia would only be twice as long of a drop. And yet she did not wince or grunt when landing smoothly on her feet. Standing, she placed a hand on her hip and looked at me sternly before walking over to me and shoving a paper in my hand. She then pointed to me, stacked her fist twice, and then made an 'X' over her heart. She placed a hand on hip, still a strange serious face plastered on.

I looked down at the paper, seeing the drawing that I had drawn a year ago. My messy images of myself, and a little blob with an arrow saying 'Karin' scribbled across. Then I noticed that there were alterations, after 'Karin' there was chicken scratch hand writing with it reading 'or Yuzu'. I only laughed and pressed my index finger on my chin, meaning 'thank you'.

Finally, her odd serious expression dropped as she gave a wide and toothy grin before giving me a punch to my arm.

"Itai," I yelped.

"You're late," she chuckled, "We waited a long time."

Finally seeing her voice move with her lips, the first thing I noticed was the fact that she no longer had her lazy tongue. The second thing I noticed was that she still wore no shoes. The third thing was that she looked different, I wasn't sure what was different, and she just was.

"I wrote the 'or Yuzu' part just so you know," Renji called out as he climbed down the tree trunk, "she just begged me to do so."

As I should have assumed since Rukia could not read, much less write, to save her life. Renji made his way over to Rukia and me and gave me a large smile. He too, like me, had grown a bit in the last year. His hair was no exception. It was now long enough that it needed to be held back with a leather thong.

"You looked really lost Ichigo," Renji mentioned.

"Well, I don't live here," I told him, "So of course I'm lost."

I gave a sheepish grin and turned my head away as I rubbed the back of my neck. My mother would say that every time I did that, it reminded her of my father, because it was also a habit of his.

"How long are you staying?" Rukia asked innocently.

I took a moment to think. "Five days after today," I said.

"Then in the next Five days," Rukia happily skipped away from us, "Renji and I will be showing you around Seireitei, so that you'll know it as good as us!"

She grabbed my shirt and pulled me to the tree. She then began to climb, Renji following suit, I then trialed close behind the two. When we got to the top, there were a few pears hanging ripe and ready. Renji picked few, one for each of us. "These are really good," he told me, holding it out with an inviting hand.

I took it from him but didn't eat any. I watched as Rukia and Renji bit into their pears, the juice dripping down their chins. Rukia smiled happily and sat with both legs straddling the branch we were all perched on.

"Yummy," I said when I finally had my first bite. It was sweet and soft. The juice trickled from lips, over my chin, and down my neck. I could feel it stick but could care less.

"The tree has been growing a lot of these lately," Renji explained, "They're good aren't they."

I nodded my head and took another bite.

Rukia had already finished hers and threw the leftover deed and stem to the ground and rubbed the juiced from her face with her arm. She grinned at me and gave me a thumb up.

"So," she swung her legs back and forth, "What do you want to see first?"

Rukia stared at me so intently that I felt as though her stare alone could knock me right off that tree branch. "W-well," I said shakily, "I sort of want to see the cool places."

And with that, Rukia easily slid off of the branch we were on and fell lightly on her feet. "Come on guys!" she called up to us, "I know a great place to go to!"

She waited patiently as Renji and I had to slowly climb down the tree. But as soon as our feet touched the roots, she grabbed both of our hands and made a bolt, dragging both of us behind her. When we finally caught our footing, she let go and we ran behind her. She was definitely much faster than the both of us as she easily ran up and down the alley ways and streets. Often times, she would almost hit a passing pedestrian but would be quick and twist or dodge out of the way just in time for the person to mumble about 'stupid kids'.

Just as I was about to trip and fall from pure exhaustion, Rukia came to an abrupt stop. We had come to a very crowded yet, cool rock buildings. It was an old pass way whose buildings seemed to no longer be used. The crumbling walls had all fallen one on the other, but were all supporting each other. The windows faced down to the ground as climbing ropes hung loosely from bent and broken ledges.

And as if it were not something so strangely weird yet wonderful, the citizens seemed to pass it by. None took a second glance at the crumbling buildings and none even took notice to the person standing next to them much less the staring children.

"Is this cool enough for you?" Renji asked.

I was too awe struck to even respond.

"Over here!"

Renji and I both looked to the side to find that Rukia and found a passage to one of the crumbling buildings. She waved her hand back and forth till Renji and I had made it over to her. She laughed and ran off again, making it a wild goose chase for us. She ran around the ground floor, dodging and jumping over ruble yelling "Tag! Tag!" as she ran.

"You two are so slow!" She taunted us from the top of a column.

"How did she get up there?" I huffed, holding my weight over my knees.

I could see that Renji too was tired and leaning on the column. "I don't know…" He looked up at Rukia who was giggling and laughing down at us as though she weren't tired at all. "Rukia," Renji called out to her, "we give up so come back down! Buta-sama is going to kill me if I bring you back with another broken arm."

"You are no fun," Rukia pouted but reluctantly slid down from her spot on the column, "Fine, but we should play tag again tomorrow!"

The sun was setting in the distance and Rukia and Renji looked over their shoulder to watch it as the light shined through one of the lopsided windows.

"We should be going back now," Renji said softly, "We'll take you back Ichigo."

Rukia lead the way back to the small clearing, making sure to tell me exactly where we were every step of the way. She pointed out the local postal office, a store (the one where they sold candy), the main street (which was being patrolled by many men in uniforms), and a plaza with a large fountain in the middle.

"Come here tomorrow," Rukia shouted as she and Renji walked off in the direction we had come. They walked me to the pear tree as promised but soon told me they had to leave. I waved goodbye to them and assured her that I would come back as noon the next day.

I slowly walked back to my house, doing my best not to get lost again. I made it back into my own home as soon as the sixth low bell rang through the city. There my mother was standing in the kitchen cooking something. The pot on the stove smelled delicious.

"Welcome back Ichigo," my mother said and gave me a smile, "Where did you go off and play to?"

"A pear tree," I said walking over to a crib that held both Karin and Yuzu. Karin's arm was draped over Yuzu's body almost protectively. I smiled and remembered the picture that was folded in my pocket. I took it out and placed it at their feet.

My mother walked over and peered over my shoulder. "What's this?" she asked as she took it out of the crib. She unfolded it and I watched as a smile crept onto her face. "When did you draw this Ichigo?"

"A-a while ago," I told her.

She laughed and ruffled my hair. "It's cute Ichigo." And she put it back into the crib at the twin's feet.

* * *

The day after, the sound of my feet against the rubble of the ground filled my ears. Rukia and Renji led me, again, to that old pass way. The buildings were leaning at odd angles and the debris that littered the floor towered as tall as or taller than me. Renji, who already had about five centimeters on me, had chucked off building that was towering over him. Rukia was not much shorter than I, but it still amazed me how she was able to maneuver herself around this area so easily.

We'd play hide-and-seek tag here in this concrete jungle. Because I was new, Rukia said that Renji and I would be the first to hide. She told me that Renji was a very good hider and that he would help me to find a great hiding spot. But she didn't forget to add that she would have no trouble finding me either way.

Rukia turned herself so that she was facing a large boulder that was covered in black ash. "One…two…three…"

She continued to count as Renji pulled at my arm to guide me to a spot to hide.

"Fifteen…sixteen…seventeen…"

I looked back at Rukia who still stood there counting. I swear she had skipped over eight and twelve. Renji tugged me to keep me going. Rukia was only going to count to twenty-five. I had argued that that wasn't enough time to hide, but she argued back that she couldn't count any higher than that.

"Twenty-three… Twenty-five! Here I come!" She shouted.

Renji and I were crouched between a moon shaped rock and a crumbling wall. We pressed our backs to the rock as we heard Rukia's bare feet patter against the gravel floor. When I saw her shadow being projected on the wall my heart never at that moment felt so scared, and excited. The sweat on my neck was a mixture from the summer heat and the suspense that was building. For a moment it was absolutely silent when her head popped in from above us, the grin of triumph on her face could have lit the room into flames.

"Run!" Renji pushed me to move. I stumbled on my feet but caught my footing as we climbed over some ruins, Rukia following close behind us.

"If we split up she can't catch both of us. You go that way and I'll go this way," I shouted over to him. He nodded his head and screamed out for us to split.

I went in my direction and he went off in his and for a moment, Rukia slowed in confusion. She looked to both of us who were laughing as we ran away from her. She turned on her toes and began running in my direction, perhaps because she thought I was easy picking. I did my best to climb over a broken wall, my legs shuffling themselves over the brick. I barely made it to the top in time for Rukia to run into the wall. Seeing her face puff up in embarrassment was so funny that I threw my head back in laughter.

"What's so funny!" she yelled up at me.

I was just laughing, that is till I lost my balance and fell back. I gasped, or maybe it was Rukia gasping, and tried to grab onto the top of the wall but my fingers just grazed the edge. I closed my eyes, waiting for the impact. But just then, I felt someone grab my hand and the falling stopped.

When I opened my eyes, I saw that Rukia was using all of her strength to hold me up. How had she gotten up the wall so fast?

"Are you alright?" Her voice was straining from the effort.

I only nodded at my amazement. In my head, I could only think of how cool she looked with her face red and eyes closed, concentrating on keeping our weights balanced. And in the midst of my wonder, I felt something in my throat, something weird. I tried to hold it in, but then it just came out. A booming laughter that echoed through the entire pass way.

Rukia popped an eye open, and stared at my grinning face, with tears streaking down my cheeks. She was just looking at me quizzically, most likely thinking what sort of idiot would laugh in this situation. But soon, she joined in with my laughter.

"You caught me," I choked.

She didn't respond but only gasped as the wall crumbled a bit. She slipped and then we both were both falling. I tried to reach out and grab onto Rukia, maybe hoping to reassure her, or maybe just to reassure just me.

When we landed on the floor, it was a much lighter landing than I thought it would be. But only because when I looked under me, I saw Renji had caught Rukia, and apparently I landed on them both. I apologized sheepishly and they groaned that they forgave me.

"You really have a hard hip Ichigo," Renji commented as Rukia climbed off of him.

Rukia, on the other hand, was rubbing her lower back, the place that my elbows had hit her. I felt my face flush with guilt and I repeated my apologies. She continued to rub, but didn't make any indication that she was going to accept my meek request for forgiveness, she only leaned back and started to laugh. I just looked at her and realized that this was her way of showing me that she didn't mind. And so I started laughing along with her, and it didn't take long for Renji to join in as well.

It was a miracle that none of us had anything more than just a small cut or bruise. Since we were lacking broken bones, Rukia deemed it that we could continue to play. That is till the time tower struck, telling that it was six.

"I'm so happy that you guys saved me like that," I admitted to them as we made our way back to the pear tree.

"Of course we'd save you," Renji said, "I mean we're friends, and friends save each other when we need saving."

Rukia nodded in agreement. "Yup, but it was so funny," she said, "You were so scared you were crying!"

When she doubled over in laughter, I felt heat rush to my ears and my cheeks. "I-I wasn't crying," I tried to defend myself, "I-I w-was just…"

"Uh huh," Rukia nodded in disbelief.

"It's okay to be scared," Renji tried to comfort me, "I mean, Rukia is afraid of The Fall. You know, when the leaves of the trees all turn yellow and red, then fall to the ground. It rains then too, a lot."

'The Fall' as they called it sounded weird to my five year old ears; I didn't understand it at first. But then I realized that that was what they called autumn. At that time, I hadn't known what was so scary about a season in the year. To me, it seemed ridiculous that someone, especially Rukia since she seemed to be fearless, would be scared of a specific time in the year.

When we reached the roots of the pear tree, I told them both that I would be back the next day at the same time as that day. They nodded and we went separate ways. I reached home and opened the back door where my mom was sitting at the table with a glass of cold ice tea. She smiled and pushed a glass towards me.

"You look worn," she said, "Did you have an awesome adventure?"

Thinking back on the events of the day, to tell her that I had an awesome adventure didn't seem like it was the right words. So I just shook my head and chose my own description of what it was that happened, "I think I might have died!"

It must have been funny because she laughed and patted my head affectionately.

* * *

"Where are we going?" I asked Renji and Rukia as they both dragged me in a different direction than the pass way. This time, it seemed like we were heading even deeper into the city streets. It became even more crowded than by the pass way really fast. Soon, instead of dodging people walking, it was more like we were squeezing into any opening there was possible.

"To the Time Tower," Rukia responded as though it were the most obvious thing.

"T-the Time Tower?" Ichigo asked, unsure. "Are we even aloud there?"

Renji and Rukia didn't answer. They only continued to drag me along the city streets, pushing and shoving through bodies in order to make it through. The people around us seemed to either shoot us glares or would completely ignore us, not that Rukia and Renji seemed to notice at all. Weaving her way in and out of the crowd was like second nature to her. She knew exactly which people to shove and which people to squeeze between so that we didn't get too caught up in the mess of things.

Stumbling out of a huge mass, the Time Tower looked so much larger than I could have imagined it to be. The Time Tower on Karakura wasn't nearly as tall, nor intricately built. The hard stone slabs that built its walls were smooth, only disturbed by crevices and markings that were purposefully carved into the sides. The markings wound up to the top, circling and blooming till they reached the actual clock that hung like a false moon. The large hand and the small hand were just sitting there. The black metal claws that held onto the two ceramic bells were barely visible from their position.

"What do we do now?" I asked, still looking up.

"We go inside," Renji said bluntly.

I turned my head to him, looking at him like he was crazy. "And how are we supposed to do that?"

"We follow Rukia."

As he said that, I realized that Rukia was no longer holding onto my wrist. In fact, she was nowhere near me. I frantically searched around myself, wondering exactly how I couldn't have seen her leave.

"Over here!"

Rukia was standing at one of the corners of the Time Tower, her head peaking out. She laughed and her head disappeared again. Renji took that as a cue to follow her. I only followed behind after him, still a little skeptical. Rukia was looking straight ahead, her body facing the wall. Bending down, she used her hands to feel around the markings, her stubby and chubby little four-year-old fingers traced between the carvings. Finally, she placed her whole palm against the wall and pushed. To my amazement, the portion of granite within the perimeter she had traced moved in. It slid easily and without any real effort or noise, as though it had been done a thousand times.

"How…" I was too shocked to even finish my question. That is, I didn't really even know what to ask.

"Buta-sama told us," Rukia began as she pushed the portion of wall further into the Time Tower, "that ten years ago, there was an earthquake here in Seireitei. She said that almost all of the old buildings fell, except for the Time Tower."

"And when Buta-sama told us that," Renji bent down and gestured for me to follow him in, "Rukia said that she couldn't believe that the Time Tower was the only old building that didn't fall. And I told her that I didn't believe it either. So we came here to look and find anything that said that this thing even went through that earthquake."

"And we found this hole!" Rukia shouted and I heard the echo even from outside. "Aren't you coming in Ichigo?"

I shook my head, looking around for anyone that could possibly see us. No one was here. So I tried to swallow my nervousness and headed in with them. When I got in, I realized that I had a lot more room that I thought I would. Surrounded by clockwork and copper gears, I could stand up and even reach my arms over my head. It was warm inside the clock tower, more so than outside. The air was heavy with condensation and steam.

"Follow me," Rukia commanded.

She turned on her heal and began walking forwards through a maze of machinery. She took steps up some, and down a few more till we reached a latter. The latter was rustic and looked a bit sooty but Rukia started climbing it anyways. I couldn't help but focus on her bare feet as she took each step, unable to imagine the feeling of having dirty soles.

It seemed as though we were climbing forever. It was tiring; every single clockwork looked the same as the last one we had passed. Each lever and pulley looked like we had just climbed by it. My arms were getting tired and arms sweating. I wasn't sure how long we had been climbing, but the low resonating sounds of the three o' clock bell were still echoing in my ears.

"Here we are!" Rukia shouted. We had reached a grid platform. She pulled herself onto it before helping Renji and then me up. Her hands were just as sweaty as my own. She just didn't outwardly show her fatigue.

"What do we do here?" I asked her.

She smiled at me. "We're going to play King of Tricks!"

Forcefully pulling me to my feet, she dragged both Renji and me further into the platform. This area that she took us to was much more spacious than I would have imagined. There were railings everywhere but the gears and levers weren't as close. You could move around freely and run around freely if you wanted to.

And it was much brighter due to the fact that I had just realized we were right with the actual clock. The natural sunlight from outside was shining in through the glass work, making the dingy insides turn out to look much more golden.

"Have you ever played King of Tricks?" Rukia asked me.

I shook my head, sheepishly rubbing the back of my neck. "I-I've never heard of that g-game…"

"Then we'll teach you!" Renji grinned widely. "I'll be King first!"

Rukia grabbed my hand and took me to sit by the glass, we faced Renji. He stood there thinking, pacing along the gridded floor. Then, turning at us, he pointed a finger in our direction.

"I am the King of Tricks, and you are my descendants," He said out loud. "Stand before me and show me what you can do!"

Rukia still held onto my hand as she whispered in my ear. "Now we stand up and close our eyes."

I did as she said, allowing my lids to shut.

I could still hear Renji as he paced. "Now Ichigo, I'm going to tell you to do something, and you have to try and do it better than Rukia."

"How will I know that?" I asked him, eyes still closed.

"I'll tell you." I could imagine a grin. "Stand on one leg."

I did.

"Hop on that leg."

I did that too. I could feel that Rukia was not hopping in time with me.

"Now spin-hop on one leg."

That was when I was unsure of what to do. I jumped, and did my best to spin. But landing was strange. My foot didn't land quite right and I lost my balance. I went tumbling down and fell on my butt.

"Rukia," Renji called, "you are now King!"

I opened my eyes. Rukia and Renji exchanged a look before switching spots. Renji this time stood next to me and Rukia stood in front. Renji pulled me up on my feet and helped to pat me off. "Do you know how to play now?"

I smiled at him. "Yeah, I think I do."

Rukia cleared her throat and the two of us turned out attention back to her. She had both hand at her sides, trying to look much taller than she actually was. Her head held high and chin tilted up, she spoke the hymn, "I am the King of Tricks, and you are my descendants. Stand before me and show me what you can do!"

* * *

"So Ichigo," my mom stood by the counter, both Yuzu and Karin in her arms. "Tell me what you are planning on doing today."

"I'm going out!" I told her.

My mother had rolled her eyes and smiled at me. She rocked the twins in her arms and hushed them as they made a sound that sounded like they were about to cry. "Why did I have to ask? Well, eat your breakfast and you can go out and play again. Okay? But be home early. We need to pack. We're leaving tomorrow."

I looked up. "We're leaving tomorrow? So soon?"

"So soon?" My mom laughed, waking Karin. "Sorry baby," she cooed. "Yes, so soon. We've been here for almost a week Ichigo, have you been having too much fun that you've forgotten?"

I looked down at my plate and found my half eaten egg. Yes, I had been having so much fun. The past two days I had spent playing hide and seek and The King of Tricks in the time tower. For first time, I didn't really care if I was supposed to be in there or not. I was just having a good time with Renji and Rukia.

But the news would have explained my slight absent mindedness when playing along with Rukia and Renji later that day. We were playing back at the pass way. I was it and looking for Renji and Rukia seemed to prove to be harder than I had thought. Rukia had asked me if I was alright when she was able to find and catch me so easily. I had told her about me leaving the next day and she seemed to take it much nicer than last year. With a raise of a thumb, she gave me a wicked grin.

"Then we'll just have to play as much as we can today!" She had said so enthusiastically, I was wondering if she was actually happy for me to leave. But I didn't have time to ask her for she bolted off in that instant to go and hide.

So I walked around, looking for both of them. I walked around most of the rubble and looked under fallen rocks and pieces of ceiling. The sound of my shoes against the pebbled ground sounded too loud for me. I wouldn't have been surprised if they both had moved because they knew I was coming near them.

But then I heard a scratching sound and grunt. I stopped. Thinking, I figured out where I thought I heard the noise coming from a far corner. I smirked. Then as quietly as I could, I crept over in that direction. Seeing a shadow hidden behind a large rock like thing, I gently put my hand down on the floor and crawled. Then, with careful ease I jumped out shouting, "I found you!"

But sitting there was neither Renji nor Rukia. There sitting against the large rock were a couple of older looking boys around the age of ten or so. It was hard to tell through their hooded jackets and shaded faces. They sat there, holding things in their hands that I couldn't quite see. But they looked less than pleased as one of them looked to the other who stood up. I could see that he had some sort of cut on his lip.

"Found us kid?" The boy with the cut asked, his eyes looking down at me with scorn. The other stood up next to him, lips turned down in a frown. The boy with a cut on lip scoffed. "What you doing? Playing hide and seek?"

I couldn't move. My body wouldn't move.

"What kid?" the other boy laughed. It sounded like a hyena's laugh. "You found us and now what? You wanna play with _us _now?"

The boy with the cut blew smoke from his nose. I had seen my father do something similar before. But when my father had done it, it was something interesting and kind of cool. But when this boy did it, it scared me. His lips curled into a spine trembling smile.

"Yeah kid," the boy with the cut lip slurred. "You wanna play our games? I like this one called punching bag."

"And you know what's _my _favorite part of that game kid?" the hyena laughing boy leaned down to my level. His breath smelled of tobacco and gin. I held my breath, hoping my legs would move on their own. But I stood stapled in place. He laughed his hyena laugh. "I like it when little brats like you are the punching bags."

Then with a raise of his fist, he went and slammed it down. My eyes shut, and I waited for the impact. But I never felt it. I heard a thud and thought that it was my head hitting the rocky ground, but I felt no pain. Perhaps I had just died? But when I opened my eyes, there was the hyena laughing boy on the floor, looking less than please. And Rukia was at his feet, her arms gripping around his ankles.

"What the hell?" The boy with the cut lip exclaimed. His fist balled into fist and he punched Rukia in the side.

"Run Ichigo!" Rukia shouted.

"Off of me you little brat!" the hyena laughing boy shouted at Rukia and with his foot, shoved her in the stomach. She fell back and I heard as her hip harshly hit the floor. The boy with the cut lip then came up and raised his fist, about ready to deal a punch right into Rukia's face. Her eyes widened and all I was doing was watching. I kept telling my feet to move, to do something, anything. But they wouldn't budge. I could only control my eyes and I told myself that I would close them when the boy with the cut lip brought his fist down.

But just before he could, Renji had come up and kicked him in the back of the leg. I wasn't sure how hard he had kicked the older boy, but it was hard enough that he momentarily fell to the ground. Renji didn't waste a second of time before he bolted, picking Rukia up in the process.

"C'mon Ichigo!" Renji shouted at me. Grabbing my hand, he pulled me and my unmoving legs and we ran.

We continued to run. I wasn't sure how long we ran but we ran all the way back to the roots of the pear tree. I wasn't too sure of exactly how I hard I ran, or if I was just being dragged by Renji who had to support the weight of both a now crippled Rukia and a shock frozen me. But while we ran, the only thing conscious in my mind was the guilt I was feeling. Rukia had put herself on the line for my sake. Then when she needed me, all I could do was stand there and watch. I don't think ever in my five years of being alive had I ever felt so helpless. I had never felt like my name was such a lie.

So when we stopped, my breath was heaving and legs were feeling shaky and weak. Tears streamed down my face and I couldn't hold in a sob. _Never _had I come across a situation like that before. And I was feeling so pathetic.

"That…" Renji let go of my hand and bent over in exhaustion, "That was… close…" He heaved. Carefully setting Rukia down, he turned to me. "Are you okay Ichigo? Oh my god…"

I could hardly see him through the tears in my eyes; he was just a blurred vision.

"Oh Ichigo," Renji tried to somehow comfort me but was hesitant to even pat me on the back. "What's wrong?"

I only cried louder. But this time, I brought my hands to my face, trying to cover my eyes. I didn't want them to see me cry.

"Ichigo," Rukia said my name.

I continued to cry.

"Ichigo," she said again.

I cried louder.

"Ichigo," She tried one more time.

And I opened my mouth wider, hoping to let out a strained sob. But Then I stopped crying, suddenly occupied with a pain in my shoulder.

"There, I'll give you something to really cry about!" Rukia looked at me sternly. Then reaching into the pockets of her jeans, she pulled out a handkerchief that was light pink with the picture of a bunny in the corner. "Here, now wipe your eyes."

I looked at the kerchief for a while before hesitantly taking it from her.

She smiled at me then and I noticed the growing bruise on her biceps. I could only imagine how her stomach was holding up. But if she felt any pain at that moment, she didn't let on. When I was done drying my eyes, I handed the handkerchief back to her, only to have her not accept it back.

"You keep it for now," she told me. Then she gave me a wide grin. "I'm not saying that it is yours though. I still want it back. But right now, you need it, so I'll let you have it for now." Shakily, she stood up. "You're leaving tomorrow you said. So keep it, and give it back to me next year right?"

I stared at her for a moment, processing what she had said. Then I quickly stood up to be at around the same height as her. "Why do you want me to keep it till then?" I held it my hand and examined it like some sort of plague. "It's so girly."

"Then you'll _have _to come back and give it to me." She winked at me. Then putting a hand over her heart, she made and 'X'. "Promise?"

I don't think I could have smiled any wider than that. I made an 'X' over my heart and put the handkerchief into my short's pocket. "Promise," I repeated.

"Rukia," Renji put a hand on her shoulder and she turned to face him. He bent down. "C'mon, we've got to get back before Buta-sama sees we're gone."

Rukia huffed. "Fine, but I can walk just- Itai!" She had fallen in trying to prove Renji wrong. She had taken a step and immediately fell onto her knees.

Renji rolled his eyes and picked Rukia up himself. Being two years older, he looked so much larger than her four-year-old body. He gave me a nod and smiled.

"You better give that handkerchief, or else I'll call you a thief!" he told me. And from his back, Rukia stuck her tongue out at me.

I laughed, a tear escaping. Wiping it away I smiled back at them. "Yeah, don't worry, I'll give it back. Promise."

Then with a wave and a salute from Renji, he and Rukia walked off in the direction they always left at. I watched as they disappeared between the houses before heading back to my own home. When I finally reached my back door, I took a deep breath and stepped into the house.

"Ichigo!" My mom said in surprise and gave me the tiger stare, "Why are you home so late. Didn't I tell you to get home earlier today?"

I sniffed and gave her an apologetic smile.

"Ichigo," when noticing my sniffle, she was immediately at my side. She had placed a hand on my back and the other on the shoulder that Rukia had punched. I did my best not to wince. "Are you alright?"

Then I felt it, that weird bubbling in my throat that just rose up. And soon enough, I was bent over in laughter. I couldn't help it, I didn't know why I felt like laughing so much. Shock perhaps?

"Mom?" I had managed to call her through my laughing fit. And she just looked at me a little worried. "Can I have martial arts classes?"

"Martial arts?" My father then decided to suddenly appear by the stares, standing in one of the oddest poses I had ever seen him pose in. His arms were akimbo and one leg held itself in air. Then in an overly dramatic fashion, he clasped his hands together. "My boy is finally trying to become a man!"

"Isshin!" my mother directed her tiger stare at him, which caused him to immediately stand straight. Turning back to me, she placed her hand back onto my beaten shoulder. "Now why would you want to do martial arts Ichigo?"

"Because," I grinned widely. The answer was easy for me. I knew it, because I don't think I had ever felt so passionate about a decision before. "If I'm going to protect those important to me, I need to know how to when they're in trouble!"

To that, my mother smiled. Patting my head lovingly, she stood back up. "Once we get back to Karakura shores I'll be sure to talk to Tatsuki's father to take you in as soon as he can."

My face lit up at that moment. "Thank you mom," I said, throwing my arms around her legs. She laughed and patted my head again. I couldn't wait till I was back in Karakura, so that I could train, so that when I came back to Seireitei, I would definitely be the one to protect Rukia.

I could remember that my last thought before boarding that boat to go home, was one that I made as a promise every year following.

* * *

_Well you're a long walk from the street_

_And I'm dying in this summer heat_

_I hope like hell you're waiting_

* * *

**End Chapter 2**

There, done! Made it before Monday ;P

Well anyways, so I can't remember if I've already mentioned it before but they wear modern clothes. The setting may be based on a sort of 1920s style, but the clothing isn't. The clothes are kind of like ours… like normal people wear. Casual. Shirts, hoodies, jeans, dresses, all are more late 90s early 2000 kind of styling. (still mean the casual kind)

And no, the boys are not actually ten and smoking and drinking. Sorry if that seemed confusing. But I sort of based Ichigo's perception on sort of my perception of people when I was that young. When I was about four to eight years old, I thought that anyone over the age of twenty-five was a teenager and anyone younger was like… a preteen or something. And so in Ichigo's mind, I had him process their age as being around ten or so, to emphasize how young and innocent he had been then.

Remember: Ichigo is now five, Renji is six, and Rukia is four ;) This chapter really took some time but I'm happy with how it turned out over all...

The song lyrics were from The Beach by All Time Low

Please review if you can and I'll update as soon as possible!


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry if this chapter is a little scattered and maybe a little confusing. My mind was very mushy and scattered while writing this… But other than that I was so happy to those who reviewed! Thank you!

Now time to explain some things as usual…

Like in our world, there are three major races, each with their own distinct features and traits. Each race has a majority of its people living in the three major countries. There is Seishin (meaning spirit), Ningen (meaning human), and Kokkaku (meaning skeleton). Seireitei is the capital city of Seishin while Karakura is just a small island within the Ningen territory. Seishin are generally very pale with – for the most part – naturally colored eyes (ps no Rukia does not have natural colored eyes). Ningen look like humans, natural skin, natural hair, and can be pretty tall to normal height. Kokkaku are deathly pale, almost white, and have very unnatural hair and unnatural eyes.

The different countries have their own trademarked style. Seishin is very England/ American 1920s kind of styling. The weather conditions are much like East Coastal America: a little rainy in the spring with some fog perhaps, hot and muggy in the summer, beautifully colored yet rainy in the fall, and snowing and freezing in the winter. Ningen is kind of like a mix of specifically Venice, Italy (being trademarked for its canals) and the 1990s Caribbean islands. They are mostly sunny year round, but can experience sudden tropical rain at any time of the year. The Kokkaku is desert, desert, desert. It is constantly overcast, getting very little sun.

**Chapter 3**

* * *

_Sakura mau mada sukoshi samui sora no shita_

_Kimiwa yuku chiisana kata ni yume yakibou nosete_

_(Cherry blossoms dance under the chilly spring sky)_

_(You walk away, with dreams and hopes upon your little shoulders)_

* * *

I returned the summer of my sixth birthday, the handkerchief hiding in the back of my pocket. Karin and Yuzu were just barely walking, or more like totting. They could take no more than a few steps before falling down forward or backwards. But as they tried to move themselves around in our home in Seireitei, their mouths would open wide and a few gurgling noises would come out along with some drool.

I rolled a pin around in my hand. It was one the captain of the ship had given me for my birthday. Stepping into my own home, I ran straight for the back door. My mom called after me.

"Ichigo, where are you going already?" My mom shouted.

"To play," I told her.

She gave me her tiger stare and I immediately ceased my actions. Then she smiled softly to me and patted my head. "Help us settle in first before you go running off alright?"

Slowly, though I really wanted to go and meet up with Renji and Rukia, I stood back up, and went to go help my dad unpack the trunks from the carriage that had taken us here. Even if I couldn't quiet lift too heavy things, I could feel that I really was growing muscles. And the martial arts lessons that I had stared almost a year ago had really helped with the development.

While my mom sat inside the house watching the twins, my dad and I brought the last of our things in. Or, it was more like my father was bringing the last of our things in and I was there touching the trunks and giving moral support. Then, immediately, once the last trunk was set down, my dad rushed to my mother's side and cooed at the twins.

Karin made a gurgling sound as Yuzu tried to stand on both of her feet, only falling forward once she did.

"I wish they would just be talking already," I had mumbled under my breath as I walked past them.

My dad snorted. "When did my son become so cocky?"

"Hmm," my mom hummed and tilted her head up to my father. "I'm sure he must have gotten it from you."

"Me? He's _your _son!" My father accused.

"Oh so now he's _my _son?"

"Are you implying that he got his cockiness from his humble old man?"

"Yes." She pecked his lips and gave him a cocky smile. "That is exactly what I am implying."

I shuttered at their public display of affection and for once envied Karin and Yuzu's inability to actually comprehend what they were doing. So I quickly put on my shoes and left the house just as the clock tower struck its first low bell.

All year, I had imagined over and over again in my head the route to the pear tree. Sometimes, I would even dream about myself running around and between houses till I reached the clearing. I would dream about Rukia and Renji, their faces lighting up at the sight of me. Though I would sometimes have nightmares where I would run around and around, but never find the pear tree. Other times I would find the clearing but Rukia and Renji wouldn't be there, or they would, and their faces would look at me with disgust. I shook the feeling from mind and continued to run through the spaces between fences. They would surely welcome me with open arms.

As I approached what I remembered to be the clearing, my pace slowed, almost stopping in place. Remembering the events of the previous year, my heart clenched. Would Rukia or Renji want to see me after what I made happen to them? When the pear tree, now bigger than last year, came into view, I didn't see Rukia or Renji. My throat clenched and I panicked. All of a sudden my nightmares seemed like they were happening right in front of me. In my mind, I had mentally scolded myself. Of course they wouldn't want to see me again this year, not after putting them in so much danger.

Walking up to the roots of the pear tree, I put my palm on the oily bark. Smoothing it over with my hand, I felt tears about ready to fall. I had worked so hard the past year to become strong like them. I would have an hour of training six days a week. I never complained about exercises and never complained about the soreness I would sometimes feel the next morning. I wanted to become strong for their sake. I drew my fist back and punched the tree hard. The searing pain that shot through my wrist, up my arm, and through my shoulder forced out my in held sob.

I made a choking sound and my vision was blurring. Because I was weak, they didn't want to see me. That was what I was sure it was.

"Ichigo?"

My head lifted at the sound of my name being called. I turned.

"I told you it was Ichigo!" Rukia said triumphantly, a wide grin spread across her face.

"Okay, okay," Renji grumbled, his arms were crossed against his chest. A sheepish blush was becoming very apparent on his face. "I just said that it _might _not be him."

Rukia pouted her lips and turned to me. Bringing up her hand and knocking it against her head. _Baka. _

"Hey I can see you!" Renji shouted.

Rukia laughed, head thrown back. I had no words. The tears that were falling from my eyes no longer had a meaning. Rukia and Renji were here; they greeted me with such friendliness that you would give a friend you had just seen the day before.

Walking closer to me, she held out her hand, expectant. "My handkerchief!"

Stunned I didn't move for a moment, the past few minutes still needing processing through my mind. But just one swift punch to my arm, I immediately reacted. Before she could actually hit me, I brought my arm up in my defense and swatted her fist away. She stepped back stunned. Realizing what I had down, I grinned at her cockily. "I've been training!"

She looked at me, wide eyed, mouth open. She had grown. I could look at her eye to eye now, and saw the different shades of blue and violet that swam in her irises. Her rose bud lips pressed together. Then what happened next went all too fast. One moment, I'm looking at Rukia's unnaturally porcelain skin and the next I'm staring up at the sky through the canopy of the pear tree. A sudden pain had shot in my back.

Rukia and Renji peered over me, Rukia's face giving me a smug smirk. "You still have to train more." She held up her handkerchief in her hand. How had she gotten that from my back pocket?

The two erupted into laughter. Their heads threw back, hands on their stomachs, Rukia's laugh sounding like the bells that we would hang in the window. Those bells and chimes that you would hang in prayer to make the rain go away. Though I could still feel like I would be stiff all week from Rukia's little moment of showiness, I couldn't help but laugh along with them.

"C'mon," Rukia said reaching out her hand for me to take. She helped me up to my feet, giving me a little squeeze in assurance. "We're going to the Time Tower!"

She pulled me, and I let her, a ridiculous smile on my face.

"Why are you grinning so much Ichigo?" Renji asked, running beside me.

I shook my head and wiped the dried tears off my cheeks. "No reason, just so happy that you guys are here!"

Rukia smiled back at me. "We're happy you're here too!"

* * *

I came every summer and they always welcomed me with open arms. They'd take me to the Time Tower or someplace around the city in order to show me around. We'd always play hide-and-seek tag or King of Tricks. But Rukia would always be the one to show us a new way to play. That was how it always was. We were like a unit, a body. That was what Rukia had told us once when I was eight.

"How are we like the body?" Renji had asked her.

We had been sitting inside of the large fountain in the city center. Rukia and Renji had been showing me around the center, the different street vendors (who all seemed to know Rukia and would just give her free food) and such when I suddenly slipped. I had slipped back into the fountain but not before sliding into the fountain's middle. There I discovered that there was just this empty cave like dome. Inside echoed and the sounds of the running water filled all around.

"Because we're each a certain part of the body essentials." She told us. She was in her bare feet as usual and sliding around in the little cave like thing.

"Uh huh," Renji nodded slowly. "So what part am I?"

"You're the arms and legs! You know." She slid around some more. "You're the muscle of everything!"

Renji nodded in agreement. I just remained silent, not wanting to break it to Renji that Rukia had proven in more than one occasion that she could probably whip even him into shape.

"And Ichigo is the stomach," She said happily gliding past me.

"The stomach?" I cocked my head.

"Yeah," She grinned. "You're the stomach. You are the courage and guts of our group!"

"Oh." My reply was weak. The title seemed undeserved. I wasn't all that courageous or gutsy. I still would cry all too easily and the simplest of things scared me. But at that moment, I told myself that I'd work to be worthy of that title.

"And so what are you Rukia?" Renji asked.

Just then she slipped and fell on her butt. Her clothes were certainly soaked now. But she didn't seem to mind.

Without thinking, I just said on my own, "The heart and brains!"

The two of them looked at me. Rukia had stood back up, rubbing her lower back with a palm. "I was going to say the eyes because I can see for all of you."

"Yeah, Ichigo," Renji said leaning back. "I think Rukia's makes more sense. Why would you say that she'd be the heart _and _brains? Isn't that just too amazing?"

I shrugged my shoulders and rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly. "No reason, I wasn't thinking sorry."

"See! You are gutsy," Rukia confirmed in almost overflowing smugness, "Saying things you want just because you want to, not caring what others think! Definitely stomach." She smiled.

And I didn't dislike the praise, I actually sometime found myself trying to strive for her praise. Once, the next summer I had gotten her a pair of shoes, since she never ran around with any on. But when she took them from my offering hands, she didn't put them on her feet. She had looked at them as though they were completely foreign objects, as though she had never seen Renji or I wear them. And with just a slip of her hand, she threw them on the ground, bent down, and put her hands in them instead.

"They're like gloves protecting my feet!" she had exclaimed while going into a handstand. She patted around on her hands like no big deal and would sometimes do a quick turn, just to show off.

"Do you want to learn?" She had asked me that summer. At first, I was hesitant to agree but Renji had been the one to answer for me, insisting that I would learn. And so when I went home that summer, I had a new trick to show to my friends.

But other than the interesting friendship that Rukia, Renji, and I shared, I learned things about Seiteitei too. Bit by bit, Renji and Rukia would teach me something new. Like how there were different districts of Seireitei, each one with its own reputation.

"What district is the pear tree in?" I had asked as we sat lazily on one of the large branches. I was seven at that time and it was one of those rare days that Rukia just wanted to sit in the tree and eat pears till our stomachs hurt.

"Twenty-third," Renji answered easily. His mouth was dripping with pear juice, it streamed down his face and he hissed, it had stung the sun burn on his chin. "This place has a reputation of being one of the nicest districts as far as people go. They say that the people who live around here are really nice which is why they haven't shopped down this weird pear tree yet."

"Oh," I nodded and bit my own pear. I didn't tell them that my home was near here, but felt a bit prideful that we lived in a district with such a standing. Then wiping the juice from my lips, I asked, "What districts do _you_ guys live in?

Rukia had been swinging upside down like she usual seemed to like to do. She had become really good at it over the past three years. "We live in the seventy-eighth district."

"Oh, and what do people say about that?" I asked.

Renji's face then turned serious, something that didn't happen very often. "They call us dogs."

Rukia had lifted herself up onto the branch and she too looked a little disheartened, though she hid it well. "A nickname for the seventy-eighth district is Inuzuri."

"It's the place that most people will leave the children they don't want. Or the place that kids will run away to." Renji said clearly. "They call us stray dogs. Rukia and I," He pointed between the two of them, "We live in an orphanage."

"An orphanage?" I had looked at them. So I found out that they did not have parents.

"Renji," Rukia punched his arm.

"Itai! What did I do?" Renji pouted.

Rukia gave him a hard stare. It was very similar to my mother's but with its own Rukia flare. I supposed it was just a girl thing. But she stared at him, her eyes flickered deep blue for a moment. "You're making Ichigo sad!" Then she turned back to me and smiled. "It's okay Ichigo! We were left at the orphanage when we were babies, we never knew our parents so it's fine."

Her way of comforting me had a very strange affect that countered her intentions. It made me feel sullen, and grateful. Rukia and Renji didn't have parents. They didn't have a mother to tuck them in at night, or a father to pat them on the back when he was proud. They never knew what a mother's hug felt like, or a father's gloating smile. They didn't know a parent's love.

And again, I found myself crying.

"I-Ichigo," Renji sounded flustered, "Why are you crying now?"

"Renji! It's your fault!"

"My fault?"

"Yes," Rukia nodded her head. "Your fault."

Watching them through my tears, I couldn't help but feel like they sounded like my own parents. Renji was one year older than me, and Rukia had told me she was half a year younger than me. Yet still, I was the child, the one who cried. And Renji and Rukia were like my mom and dad. For some reason, at that time, I thought it was a rather sour thought.

But even through their own maturity, they didn't fail to show me that I was growing. They didn't fail to change me and help me grow. When I would return back home to Karakura, I'd always have something new to show my friends, something that I learned.

"My friends really like hide-and-seek tag," I told Rukia once as we walked along the piers. Renji was sitting on a rock up ahead; he had run past us, telling us he'd go up first. We were in a long strip of ally between some of the cargo piers. I was amazed at how many there were. Renji had told me that they were six other just like these, twelve all lined in two rows of six. Karakura only had one field of cargo piers: ten lined in two rows of five. Not only that but these cargo piers were twice and big as the ones in Karakura.

"Really? You taught them?" Rukia looked at me. She was now just a little bit taller than me, which hadn't been too great on my ego since now I was the shortest out of us three. And for a six year old at that time, the height mattered, especially since she was a girl.

"Yeah," I said with a smile. We had approached the rock that Renji was sitting on, he was looking bored and leaned on the wooden rail that was behind him. "They think I'm the coolest boy on the island!"

"Rukia," Renji whined. "I'm gonna have the first jump!"

Then Rukia's head snapped at Renji. "No, I'm gonna jump first!"

"Jump?" I looked at both of them funny.

"Yeah," Rukia stared at me expectant, "Jump into the water."

"Like this!" And without hesitation, Renji jumped up, pulling his shirt off and jumped back.

"Renji I said I'd be first."

Then Rukia leaned forward and just caught the rim of his pants. But his weight outweighed her and I watched as she was quickly tipping over the railing. In a moment of impulse, I reached for her. Only in time enough for all three of us to go falling into the water.

That moment that we all were swallowed by the tides and the water soaked all the way through my clothes and to my skin, I never knew that water could be so cold.

"Why i-is it s-so f-f-freezing?" I shivered when Renji and Rukia helped to pull me out, their demeanors were completely unfazed.

"The sea water is always this cold," They told me.

"No," I protested, "It's warm like Cocoa."

They cocked their heads. "This water is warm compared to in the spring or fall."

"Not to mention winter," Renji added, "Sometimes there's a layer of ice."

"Ice?" I had never known that ice could be outside of the ice chest, much less made on the sea.

"Yeah, when it snows," Rukia said to me with excitement. She seemed to look like she liked this 'snow'. And I found an instant curiosity to want to know why it seemed look so special in Rukia's eyes.

"Snow," I repeated. I had never heard of it before. I had been too embarrassed to ask the two what it was, in fear that they'd think I was dumb since it seemed like common knowledge to them. But I had later asked my mom on the boat home. In my pocket that summer was a vile of a cocoon that Rukia and Renji had helped me get from the top of the pear tree.

"What is snow?" My mom had repeated the question. She was patting Yuzu and Karin's backs, trying to get them to sleep. "Well, it is very beautiful." My mother told me slowly. "It's like the rain, only cold, and light. It makes things glow, bright. It's gentle and white, making things look so delicate. But it can also be strong when it wants to be." My mother sighed at her own musings and gave a gentle smile. "Karakura doesn't get snow so you wouldn't know Ichigo. It really is something you have to experience for yourself to know what it is like."

Listening to her description I was getting the feeling that I already did know what she was saying. A picture of a girl with large purple-blue eyes, pale skin, and black hair is what my mind was forming.

"The closest you could probably feel is like in Karakura winters, when there is that light breeze." My mom added.

"And the sun is out and it's quiet with just the ocean!" I said excitedly.

"Yes," My mother looked at me, her eyes seeming so proud. She reached down to hug me. "Exactly like that."

"Yeah," I sighed into my mom's shoulder, still picturing the girl. "I know exactly what you mean."

* * *

The summer that I had turned seven, I came up to them, with a jar of a butterfly in my hand. And inside, the butterfly was just fluttering about its black and violet wings. When the cocoon had cracked and this midnight looking creature came stepping out, my father had exclaimed that he hadn't seen one of these since he was just a child and asked me how I found one on Karakura. I didn't tell him that I had actually brought back from Seireitei.

It was odd though, that I noticed that year their worried faces when boarding the connecting ship to Seireitei from Hokutan. I saw their worried expressions and would have asked them about it, had my mind not been so preoccupied in keeping the midnight butterfly alive. I wanted to be sure that Rukia and Renji saw it.

"Whoa," Renji marveled at the sight. The jar had light refracting off it, making a display of rainbow around it. "I've never seen one quiet like this before!"

"Me too," Rukia was amazed, and how I felt so happy that she was.

But even in my happiness, I didn't fail to realize that in the next few years, just how more strikingly apparent the faces of my parents were becoming. Every time that we would be leaving and boarding the ship, their eyes would suddenly dart this way and that. They looked as if expecting some or something bad to happen, their grip on mine and the twin's hands were always tighter. Not to mention their restrictions on me and my times to play outside were growing shorter and shorter. If I came home even a minute late, they would be mad. If I came back with scrape or a bruise they would be mad. If I came back injured and late…. Well, I didn't want to think about that.

But running beside Rukia and Renji, I couldn't help but forget my parents' worried faces and slowly growing paranoia. When I was with them, the week, though passing fast in my fun, always made feel like I had known them for a year. Without a doubt, they were my most trusted friends. They were even more trusted than the friends I had on Karakura. They knew me inside out and I knew them in the same. But even so, I never tired of them. I couldn't help but feel like there were always new things to learn.

"Let him go!" Rukia had screeched so loud that my ears were rattling.

I had just turned nine and we had been between the piers that day. Running into older kids with ill intentions was rare but not uncommon for us. Usually we would just avoid them, much to Rukia's hot-headed dismay, but today, she couldn't seem to let them go. They were holding a rabbit by the ears, over the edge of the pier.

"Oh. But we were," The older kicks said, snickering.

"Let it go safely!" She pointed an accusing finger. "Or else I will make you!"

"Rukia," Renji hissed.

"They aren't any older than you," Rukia argued, "We can take them."

"Looks like your friend there doesn't want you to get her little girl," the older kid holding the rabbit said. The rabbit was trembling, whimpering. It was horrible and pathetic.

I straightened my stance and balled my hands into fist. "If Rukia is going to take them then so am I," I tried to sound heroic.

Renji, though sighing and looking apprehensive, stepped up and stood in line with us. "Alright."

We must have been an amusing sight to see. A girl much taller than the average height for her age, standing next to one lanky short boy and another shaggy haired red-head, we were definitely a misfit trio. And it was apparent the older kids thought so to because they scoffed.

"Go back and play your little games kids," One of them waved us off.

"Not till you put that rabbit safely on the ground!" Rukia screamed again.

With a mischievous smirk, one held the helpless creature further out over the edge. "Make me."

He needn't say more because in the next second, Rukia lunged forward in her almost inhuman speed and pulled the boy holding the rabbit further away from the water's edge. He stumbled and let go of the rabbit, it flew through the air. Renji, quick to react, ran back to catch is safely in his arms. I, after finally processing that Rukia had just engaged herself in a fight, ran to her aid.

The boys were throwing punches at her, but she had always been fast on her feet and was dodging them. In my few years of training, I knew how to block and redirect an attack (which by far, was a much better defense than I had just a few years prior).

Even if we didn't exactly fight back, we came out mostly unscathed. I just had a little bruise on my side from being knocked down by one of the boys. This being only the second real fight I had ever gotten into – if the first one could be even considered that – I was not used to the dirty play of street fighting. The boy had come from under me and knocked off my feet in a very harsh way. But before he could do anything to me, Rukia pulled my out of the way and threw me onto my feet. We ran after that.

"Are you sure you'll be okay," Renji asked, poking my side.

I winced and held in my tears. "Yeah, of course."

Rukia looked at me apologetically, guilt in her eyes as they flickered a dark purple. "I'm really sorry!"

"No, it wasn't your fault," I assured her.

"I shouldn't have protected you better," she said, head hanging low. But she looked back up at me, just as I had reached out to consol her. "I will work harder!" Is what she promised me, and she made an 'X' over her heart. I knew she meant it. And silently, I drew an 'X' over my own, promising the exact same thing to her.

"Rukia!" I had called out, trying to catch her attention. She and Renji were standing at the tree's edge.

"Yes?" Rukia turned to me. She smiled at the sight of me, making me feel giddy on the inside. Not that I would tell her that. Oh god why hadn't I told her?

"Here!" I handed to her a paper with my writing on it. I had written it myself and my parents had asked me what it was for. The blush on my face when they had asked made them eye me suspiciously, especially when I asked them for a bit of help.

Rukia took the paper from my hand looked down at it. I had often been commemorated for having much nicer handwriting than most of the boys in my grade, even some of the girls said I had nicer hand writing than they did. But the way Rukia seemed to scrutinize it, turning it this way and that, made me feel self-conscious.

"You know I can't read," she looked at me deadpan.

"Give me that," Renji said, snatching the paper from her hands. He looked it over, his eyes narrowing and running over the words I had written. My blush was growing, I had completely forgotten that she couldn't read and was feeling a bit ashamed. "An address and our names?"

I nodded with a sheepish smiled, rubbing the back of my neck. "I figured that since we are friends…" I looked up nervously at the two of them. "we could possibly exchange letters through the year. I don't get to see you guys too often and so, I want to connect with you more."

At first they didn't respond and I felt like I was being too forward. "Of course you don't have to write to me I was just thinking that-,"

"Of course we'll write to you baka," Renji said and then Rukia followed in with punching me in the jaw.

"Don't you dare underestimate us!" Rukia added.

And as they stood there, boring me with their eyes, I couldn't help but think that they looked so much older than just mere eight and ten year olds. But when I got on the boat back to Karakura, my dreams were filled with their faces and the things I had learned about them. Renji liked spicy foods, and was smart for his age. He had muscle and some brains. Then Rukia… Rukia was like the snow. But she wasn't, she was like the sun. She was the sun and snowy day.

Rukia was refreshing, always smiling. She was new, and honest. She was innocent but hated idiocy. She was empathetic and maternal, but never swayed from a fight. I laughed in my cot, musing over the last conversation we had had that summer for I left.

"So how do you write your name Ichigo?" Renji had asked me. When I found a nearby twig, he had tilted his head to watch me write it out. Then when he looked at it over his mouth dropped open.

So did Rukia's. "Can we just write Ichi instead? It looks easier!"

"Just Ichi?" I looked at her, a little offended. Even at my relatively young age, I took great pride in the meaning of my name. "Then it would just mean one!"

"Yes!" Rukia gave me a thumb's up. "Because there is only one of you! Because you are special, we'll call you Ichi-kun!"

My face burned with embarrassment.

"Oh!" Rukia perked up and pointed a finger at Renji. "And you'll be Niku-kun!"

"Niku-kun?" Renji repeated, his eye twitching just a bit.

"Yeah," She smiled. "We don't have to use them all the time, but we're best friends now. We need nicknames for each other! Besides, this way we'll have movements of our nicknames and talk about each other!"

"Yeah, but why did I have to be Niku…" Renji asked, his face drooping in a very funny way.

"What?" Rukia cocked her head. "Don't you like it?"

He scoffed. "Whatever. So what are you then Rukia? If Ichigo is Ichi, I'm…Niku. What are you then?"

"I'll be…" She put a finger to her lip, a habit she had when thinking. Her head tilted down a bit and her eyes lost focus. "I'll be Usagi!"

"Usagi?" Renji repeated, his face drooping again. "Why Usagi?"

"Because I like them?" She stated, a little unsure of herself.

"I don't like it," Renji said quickly. "I don't want to have to do this every time I want to talk to you." Lifting both his hands to his head, he gently tapped it with his fingers in the shape of rabbit ears. "It's stupid…"

I could see Rukia's eye twitch. "What part of that is stupid?"

"All of it!"

Through there bickering, my mind ran. I agreed with Renji, I didn't want to call Rukia Usagi. Sure bunnies were cute like she had been, but she didn't feel like a bunny at all. Bunnies were helpless and meek creatures, something that would be a complete oxymoron if given to Rukia.

"Hi-chan," I said affirmatively. Then again even louder, "We'll call you Hi-chan!"

Rukia stopped arguing with Renji and they both looked at me. I blushed at my sudden courage.

"Hi-chan…" Renji said slowly. "Strangely, that fits. And the movement it so much less annoying than Usagi." He balled his hand into a fist and moved it in a circle, the sign for the day. "Yeah, I like it!"

"So then it's settled!" Rukia clapped her hands together and puffed out her cheeks. "We are officially the best friends to have ever walked on this world!"

It was a childish statement, but it made me laugh anyways. We were so naïve then. We were so innocent. And though I didn't realize it then, I should have cherished those moments we all shared together more. Because even though I got back and received my first letter from Renji and Rukia just a week before the second term started, I was still young, and didn't know that you didn't stay young forever.

* * *

_Ima tabidatsu kimi ni okuritai_

_Kyou kurai majime ni ittatte ii jan (Ittatte ii jan)_

_Arittake no egao o janataba ni _

_Kimi ni tsutae yo MESSEEJI_

_(I want to send you off as you begin your journey)_

_(I should have done that at least today (I should have))_

_(I placed all my smiles in a bouquet of flowers)_

_(That I am sending to you along with a message)_

* * *

**End Chapter 3**

Garg! This is the shortest out of the three chapter so far ;^; But I had fun writing this chapter… though my mood was really ruined by the recent chapter of Bleach, I dealt with it and here you are lovelies! If it was confusing, this chapter encompassed four years of their life. Ichigo is 6-9, Renji is 7-10, and Rukia is 5-8.

Niku means meat in Japanese and Hi means day or sunshine :) I'll let you guys figure those meaning out on your own ;) Not much else to explain from what I can tell…. Um…. Oh yes! This is actually the half way point for this particular story! Yes, this story is planned to be only six chapters long…

Ask me any questions if you need too! And remember! The lyrics are a part of the story. They are there for a reason and sometimes may tell things that the story its self may not tell (hint hint…. Wink wink…) I'll let you guys decide the rest on your own ;)

Song is Tabidatsu Kimi He by RSP (the 22nd Bleach ending) the video to the song tears me up every time T^T

Please review if you can and I'll update as soon as possible!


	4. Chapter 4

Thank you for those who have supported this project so far! Gosh, with Kubo falling with pneumonia, I just had to get this up for whatever guilty reasons I had.

More explanations! So I think it has to be made aware of the idea that this story is narrated by present Ichigo. So all of this is present Ichigo looking back on his childhood and such. Which is why the vocabulary, perspective, and observations seem more mature than they would coming from a normal ten year old. How old Ichigo is in present time… well, I won't tell you just yet. But this is the third to last chapter and I'm still hoping to get this whole "Fall from Innocence" thing down. Though I'm actually hoping to give it more of a "Rise from Innocence" rather than a "Fall" because falling sounds much more tragic. Ironic how we refer to something like Love as falling, really it just is very tragic.

But again, pay attention to the lyrics, they are getting (I think) more and more important as far as foreshadowing and insight to characters go! Though now that most of the main explaining about back history and culture are explained, I think that you can now enjoy the story a little more since it is picking up pace here ^^

**Chapter 4**

* * *

_Your voice, was the soundtrack of my summer_

_Do you know you're unlike any other?_

_You'll always be my thunder_

* * *

On the summer of my tenth birthday, my parents had actually asked me if I wanted to do something different for my birthday. They asked me if I wanted to spend it at home on Karakura instead and play with my friends from school. I promptly refused them.

"Why can't we go to Seireitei like we always do?" I asked them just a couple of days before we usually left.

My mother had given me a very skeptical look. Her eyes were turning lucid like they always did when she was thinking of a way to lie to me. Tilting my head to the side, I gave her wide eyes in hopes of that persuading her. She in turn looked slightly away.

"Would that make you happy Ichigo?" She asked me softly.

"Yes," I responded just as meek.

I remember her as she sighed and stood to her feet. Walking over to my father, her arms swayed like willow branches and her finger snapped against the belt on her dress. She bent over to whisper in my father's ear. I recall his serious face; much more serious than he usually ever was. When my mother stood straight again, his face shifted into something like sadness. But I couldn't be too sure, it was gone in a blink of my eye.

"Alright son," he started, "We'll go again this year." Then he turned to face my mother just as my lips were turning up into a smile. "Masaki, I'll go and talk to Kisuke about getting us a boat by the end of this week. Why don't you go and pack the children's things?"

"Kisuke?" My mother questioned. "Why would you not ask one of the fishermen?"

As curious as I was to listen to my father's response, at that moment, nothing interested me more than running to my room and writing a letter to Rukia and Renji. We had been writing back and forth all year. Just as I was about to start my second trimester after summer holidays, I received my first letter from Seireitei. At first, I thought that it was a letter for my father and the post man was just trying joke around with me. Before the letter, the post man used to yell out my name, "Kurosaki-san!" in order to catch my attention. Then he would usually smile, laugh, then tell me that he would have a letter from Seireitei for my father. Because the postal building was just on my way to and from the elementary school, this had become a reaccuring pattern almost once a month. But this time it was not "Kurosaki-san" like he always did but a "Kurosaki-kun."

"It is odd," he said to me, "I have a letter specifically for you."

The contents of the letter weren't particurally very important, just bad handwriting of them being excited to write their first letter with a horrible drawing of something in the bottom right corner. But the chicken scratch and terrible sketches and almost uncomprehesible grammar were just as good as any god's secret. I read and kept each one like my mother kept her gold ring.

But I always knew the difference between the parts Renji wrote, and the parts that Rukia wrote. It wasn't just that Renji would always write first, though he always did. It also wasn't that his grammar and penmanship was much neater. What always let me know that Rukia was writing was because in Rukia's portion, it was always written in code.

The first lette I had recieved from Seireitei, I had looked at it and found that it made no sense at all. I knew that Rukia couldn't read, nor could she possibly write, but Renji seemed like he could. So looking at the jumble of sprawled words just seemed to be carelessly placed on the page, I couldn't help but cock my head thinking it was all some sort of joke. But slowly, as I stared at it closer and closer over the course of a week, I realized that everything had been written backwards.

As annoying as it could be that she did that, I never said anything about it. In fact, after getting a few of her letters over the course of many months, by the end of the third trimester I was actually really good at solving word puzzles.

But in the break between the new year and end of my fifth year, I found that Rukia's birthday was in the early stage of January and that in Seireitei, they had had their largest snow fall in history. When I asked her to describe it to me, she wrote in her usual codes; between each syllabol pf her words were 'shi' or 'ro' between them.

_You could not see the streets at all! The pear tree, without its leaves, looked as though it were holding a large white could. The snow reached up to my neck in some parts of the city, especially near the time tower. Think of the ocean, and that it is soft, cold, and sweet feeling. You should see it Ichi-kun... you'd love it. _

Her words always confused me, the ocean white and sweet feeling? Could sweet be a feeling? But it was Rukia, and in the years I had known her, she always had this other way of seeing things, an almost innocent way. At the time though, I never knew how much life seemed to dislike this kind of innocence.

* * *

Walking off of the dock felt so different. This time, we did not take the usual fishing boat to Hokutan, nor did we embark on the usual passanger ship that brings those to Seireitei ports. Instead, we had taken a much longer route going in and around the outer Seishin islands. Unlike our islands, they were much hillier and humid as apposed to the relatively flat, dry heat of Karakura. But there was no large dinner or party or meeting of the captain on this boat. Though once we docked, it didn't really seem to matter.

All that mattered was that we were finally at port and that I needed to find Rukia and Renji as soon as I could. I was already two days late due to such round about sailing. So as once I was able to carry our trunk into the main living room, I made a direct headway to the door.

"Ichi-nii!" Karin pouted and grabbed onto my sleeve. The twins were already five and had eyes that were already filling with curiosity. But I never took them with me to my adventures with Rukia and Renji. Actually, as far as my family were concerned, they had never heard of such names as "Renji" or "Rukia".

"What is it Karin?" I asked trying to move out of her grip.

"Where are you going?" She asked me with wide eyes. They were that natural black, like my father's. Yuzu looked much too much like my mother.

"Out..." I told her carefully.

She didn't let go of my arm. "Can I come with you?"

In the three or so years that the twins could walk and talk, never had they asked where I went during our days in Seireitei. I was taken aback and hesitant. There was a part of me that wanted to bring her along, flaunt to her how cool her big brother was knowing such cool people. Karin would have especially liked Rukia, oh how she woukd have loved Rukia. But then there was that part of me who wanted to keep what I did a secret. I realize what a mistake it was to take her for granted.

"Karin," my mother called out to my sister, "What are you up to?"

"Ichi-nii is going out!" she pointed a finger at me. "Karin wants to go too!"

"Ichigo wants to go out..." my mother looked at me as she repeated Karin's words. "Karin, why don't you come and stay by mommy." Then looking at me, she gave me a wary smile along with her tiger stare. "And you too Ichigo, I don't want you two to be wandering the streets alone."

My mouth dropped.

"M-mom!" I stuttered. "W-why c-can't I go out?"

Her eyes widened in shock. She and I had not expected that I would question her decission no matter how weak the attempt was. There was a moment of pause where even Karin looked uncomfortable. She fidgeted under my mother's indirect gaze and eventually let go of her hold on my sleeve.

"Ichigo," my mother said slowly and firmly, "I do not want either of you, or Yuzu, to go anywhere we cannot see you. This includes going out to play on your own."

She gave me another one of her tiger stares, this time without the smile. That was when I knew that her reasons were absolute and that she would not allow me anywhere out of her sight. Taking in a deep breath, she bent down and put a hand on my shoulder, grabbing Karin's hand in the process.

"I know that you might not feel that its not fair," she started slowly, "But right now, Seireitei is not a place I want you roaming on your own. I know that you've been doing this for a long time, but many things can change in a year. So please Ichigo." She paused and made sure I was staring her straight in the eyes. "I need you to stay by Mommy's side okay?"

All I could do was glance at the door, look back as she pleaded one last time, and nodded my head reluctantly. When I did, her face seemed to relax and her eyes fluttered. She leaned in and gave me a hug, like one she would give Karin or Yuzu when they fell and cried. But I wasn't crying, just frowning. Though she never saw - because I rid myself of it when she pulled away - and I'm glad that she never saw my frowning face.

The next few days were speant, just as she said, by her side. We never left the house without either of my parents a step behind us. Every time that my father would go out on his trips to the Seireitei main city hospital, my mother would hold all of our hands in the waiting room till he came back.

If we weren't at the hospital, then we were at the house. She'd just have us sitting in the living room or in the kitchen playing with whatever games we had lying about.

"Mommy, Ichigo is sighing again." Yuzu said. She had insisted that the two of us play bakgamon together on the porch.

Setting Karin down on the ground, my mother pushed her towards the two of us. "Karin, go and play with your sister." Then coming over, she waved over at me. "Why are you sighing honey," My mother asked me.

I didn't answer, only shrugged my shoulders.

Sighing herself, my mother got down onto her knees. Posissioning herself so that she felt comfortable in front of me, she gave me a sympatheric stare.

"Ichigo," she said, "I have something for you." waving her hands in an indication that she wanted me to follow her, she pushed herself up and headed up the stairs.

I followed behind her dutifully, thinking of how different the wave of a hand was different than the direct hand hold that Rukia would do. aleading me up the stairs she went into her and my father's room. The seafoam blue was so nostalgic to the Karakura Island that I almost felt like I was back in that dry heat.

"Ichigo, come here," my mother said as she sat on her bed. "I want to give you something."

Slowly, I walked over to her. She smiled and put her hands under my arms and picked me up to place me just beside her on the bed. Reaching over to the bureau she opened one of the drawers and pulled out a little velvet bag.

It was a bright red bag with a picture of gold rays shooting out in brilliant shining threads. There were little specks of blue glimmers that surrounded the gold threads and all lead to the red drawstrings at the top. Gently pulling the velvet open, my mother held the bag in front of me.

"Your father wanted me to give this to you on your eightteenth birthday," she said handing the open bag to me, "but we had a long discussion, and we've decided to give it to you eight years early."

"Why?" I asked her curiously.

She didn't answer immediately. "Because I think you need it sooner than we thought. Go ahead, open it."

Looking at the red drawstrings, he sighed and pulled them open. Tipping the velvet bag so that its contents fell into my tiny palm – which I had insisted at the time were large. Out slid a charm on a leather thong. A two ring sun. The outer and larger ring a bronzy-gold and the center was silvery-white. It was the symbol of my mother's family, The Furui. They were practically one of the oldest families in our little island of Karakura stretching back at least twenty generations. It didn't make my mother island royalty or anything, just very well known. My mother smiled at it and gently took it from my hands.

"This has been in my family for years Ichigo," She looked at it, musing to herself. "It's been used for years in my family as protection. I'm not sure how well it works since that was all just superstition but," She paused and looked at me with that same smile on her face. Reaching over she carefully pulled it over my head and let it hand loosely around my neck. "But I think that if anything it'll put me at ease if you had it."

I looked down at the charm as it swung along my chest. It looked so strange, like it didn't fit on me.

"So what does it mean?" I asked my mom unconsciously.

She didn't answer right away, most likely shocked by me asking in the first place.

"It means that you'll be protected from whatever you are most afraid of. It will supposedly keep you safe," She told me. "That was what my father had told me more or less. Just keep it with you, and then I'll feel a little better."

I nodded my head and just held the charm up to my face, scrutinizing it. "Does this mean I can go outside now?"

My mom's mouth opened and then closed as she bit her bottom lip.

"Your father wouldn't approve but…" She lowered her head. "But I suppose I can't keep you locked up here in this house all summer now can I? Just be careful alright Ichigo?"

She didn't need to say more. I was already jumping on my feet and running down the stairs. I turned around the corner and into the living room where I forcefully unlocked the door. I shouted one last time to my mother that I was leaving and said one simple goodbye to Karin and Yuzu. I didn't wait for a response and just left, closing the door hastily behind me.

I ran and ran and ran as fast as I could towards the pear tree. Occasionally I'd stumble on my own feet or trip over some rock, but I'd always clumsily regain my footing and kept running. By the time I got the tree I had already gained a couple of scrapes on my knee. I remember thinking that the charm my mother had given me must have been a hoax of some sort because surely I couldn't be as klutzy as I just was. But I shrugged off the feeling and got closer to the tree only to find that it was barren. Neither Rukia nor Renji were anywhere to be seen.

I ran around the tree, climbed it, and raised my head above the canopy. I couldn't see them and my heart was racing. I panicked. Where on earth could they be?

Climbing back down, the Time Tower's low bell rang four chimes. I waited till it rang five and that was when I realized that they weren't coming. I knew that they were not coming. But it wasn't until I could see that it was half past the six that my body moved on its own. I walked onto the main street where there were people just vicariously walking around in their business suits and briefcases, heading home after a long day's work. I shoved passed business men, wondering women, and tramping children. I ignored the men that would yell and curse at me, and I didn't stop for the women who would give me a concerned look and asked me where my parents were. Picking up my pace, I looked around myself only to land my eyes on the postal office.

Walking in, it was much cooler inside than out. The humidity seemed to not have touched to the insides of the postal office. The post man working in the back of the marble counter was leaning lazily on her hands, not seeming to notice me at all. My chin was able to touch the edge and I knocked it twice to catch his attention.

The post man must have been half asleep since he seemed startled to see me there, or maybe he was startled to see a ten year old boy waiting for his services.

"Excuse me sir," I started politely.

"Ah?" The man sat up straighter, he looked sleepy and somewhat nervous to see me. He was on the shorter side of heights, and looked relatively young – perhaps only two or three years older than me. "Can I help you Gesuto-san?"

"Did a girl with black hair and dark blue-ish purple eyes come here recently?" I asked him.

I wasn't sure why I had asked him specifically. In this big of a city, they were sure to have multiple post men, unlike Karakura who only had one or two at most, but I supposed it was a better shot than any.

"You mean Rukia-chan? Are you a friend of Rukia-chan's?" So he did know Rukia.

I nodded my head.

"Oh, so you are her friend?" He leaned back smiled at me. "Well that's good, how may I help you?"

I lifted my arms to rest on the counter, feeling a little more at ease here.

"I'm looking for seventy-eighth district. Could you point me to the way?"

When I requested that, the boys face changed to something dark. "Where are your parents Gesuto-san?" This time, "Gesuto" did not sound very hospitable.

"They're at home…" I said slowly and carefully, not liking the look on the guy's face. Had he thought that I was a run away? If he knew Rukia, shouldn't he have known that she lived in the seventy-eighth district?

"You should probably go home Gesuto-san."

"But I need to find Rukia!" I told him.

"You should go home Gesuto-san." He repeated softer this time, his eyes lowered to the ground. "It isn't safe for you to go to the seventy-eighth district."

"But I need to-,"

"I'll tell her you came by," He lifted up his face and smiled this time, only it seemed forced, maybe a little sad too. "Now head home Gesuto-san."

"Huh?"

The sixth low bell rang through the city like a warning call.

"Go back home now, Seireitei streets are no place for anyone at night." He looked away and mumbled, "Not anymore at least."

I gave him a skeptical look but backed out slowly of the postal office.

"You promise to tell her I was looking for her?"

"I promise."

"Tell her at the pear tree at noon tomorrow."

"I will."

"Don't forget."

"I won't. Now go."

And with much reluctance and a wary trust in the young postal man… or boy… I left and ran through the streets again, this time with disappointment, back my home. I felt disheartened and utterly disappointed. Every summer, I felt refreshed, new, and leaving with a different perspective on the world. At that time, I hadn't realized it yet, but Rukia had been changing me in ways that it took me years to really comprehend. But with me leaving the next day, I was upset. I was running with tears in my eyes.

"Ichigo," my mother shouted. I was muddy and wet by the time I reached home. It had started raining half way back. The streets were soaking as the unusually warm drops began to hit the pavement. It had done well to hide my tears, but it didn't do well to hide the scrapes on my knees.

"What happened?" She leaned in closer to me and started wiping me with a towel. My chest hurt, it hurt so badly. I remember thinking that it seemed like I was going to cry again in front of my mother. I wouldn't do that to her, so I kept in my tears.

"What happened to Onii-chan?" Yuzu had come running up to me, holding up her arms in some sort of greeting.

"Nothing Yuzu," My mother said,, "Go back and play with Karin."

I gave my mother a grateful nod as I watched Yuzu huff before walking back other into the living room to play. Then quickly, she took me into a warm embrace and that was when she let me know I could start crying. They were silent, and I didn't wail like I usual did, but the tears just came out.

"Don't worry honey," My mother cooed, "Their only scrapes. They'll heal."

I'd never be able to tell her that it was over not seeing Rukia or Renji, so I'd just let her think that the scrapes hurt much more than the pain that was suffocating my chest.

* * *

The next day, I woke up around the time the seventh high bell rang. I could already smell breakfast from my room and so I rushed down stairs, my feet clumsily slid on the steps.

"Whoa Ichigo," My dad laughed, "Don't hurt yourself."

Throughout the trip, my father had treated this as though it were like any other summer. It was like he ignored the oddness of the boat we had taken, or the dullness of my having to stay by my mother's side all the time. It was as though he tried too hard to turn a blind eye to the strangeness of our situation. It made me mad, though I suppose I didn't understand why he did it and that was what made my upset.

"Ichigo," My mother said softly, "Go sit down and I'll have your breakfast in just a moment."

I nodded my head and took my seat quietly at the table. I looked outside and it looked like the rain hadn't stopped. In Karakura, long rains were considered bad omens. But I guess that was only because in Karakura, if it rained, it rained for no longer than maybe an hour and then it was gone. Here, I wasn't sure what two day long rains meant, but I didn't like the feeling it gave me.

Suddenly, a spring of light shot through the house followed shortly by a loud, crashing _BOOM! _

"Would you listen to that thunder," my mother hissed. "I don't know what to make of it."

I grimaced. If it was raining this hard, would Rukia come out? What if the post boy hadn't told her about me? I shook my head, it was best not the think of those things.

"Ichigo, don't be eating your food so sloppily," my mother reprimanded.

I looked down at my half eaten bowl and realized I hadn't really been putting it into my mouth. I was just shoveling it in so that it was to fall out again. My mind wasn't working and to be honest, I can't truly remember what had been going through my mind at that time. But the slow cooked egg just sitting on top of my rice didn't look quite as appetizing as it did the days before. Sighing, I shoved the rest of my breakfast into my mouth and swallowed hard.

"Ichigo!"

"Sorry," I apologized weakly.

My parents eye each other, and my father put a hand on his chin. Like his obsessive habit of rubbing the base of his neck when he was nervous – something that I had unfortunately inherited – touching his chin was also a sign of his uncertainty when he thought.

Yuzu and Karin never really joined us this early for breakfast. The twins had always been late and heavy sleepers. But with my early morning practices for martial arts, I had gotten used to disciplining myself into waking up early. Though Karin had been showing a growing interest in Karakura football, she still only had to wake up at nine at the earliest to watch the morning matches the older girls would play.

"Ichigo." My dad placed a hand on my shoulder and rubbed them. "Is there something desperately on your mind?"

"No," I lied.

"I'm sorry you couldn't spend as much time out side as you had hoped," He told me, "But Seireitei right now… it isn't good for you to be out alone right now."

My mother had obviously not told him about letting me out the day before, and I was grateful. But my mother was obviously very skittish. She shifted on her feet and nervously set two bowls down at the table.

"Now Isshin," my mother called. "Why don't you sit and eat."

"Right, right," My father rubbed the back of his neck and took a seat.

The rain outside continued to poor, and a thunderstorm would not be anything without its thunder. And though I wasn't too used to the lightning and loud noises coming from the clouds, It wasn't all too bad.

"It really is roaring outside," My father commented.

"Kaa-san!" Yuzu and Karin both said together as they came running down the stairs. Still in their nightgowns I could tell that the thunder had woken them up.

"What is it girls? Did the booming noises scare you?" She cooed in their ears.

They were nodding as they buried their faces deeper into my mother's chest. She smiled gently at them and smoothed out their hair. There was another flash and loud noise.

"Kia!" The two screamed and jumped into my mother's lap.

She laughed and held them in tighter, continuing to stroke their hair and rub their backs. She shushed them and rocked back and forth.

"Don't be afraid of the thunder girls," She told them. Though I could only think that they were hardly listening. "The thunder is not trying to be scary."

"Yes it is!" Karin protested.

Thunder roared.

"Kia!"

"You know the light that comes before the thunder girls?" my mother continued her rocking. "Those are all the lost dreams of people here on our world. And when the thunder strikes, it is calling back all of those dreams to the sky, so that people here have something to look up to."

My mother's little speech did little to calm their nerves, but I was listening to. And to me, it sounded so much like something Rukia would say to me. I smiled, and looked down at the sun charm. My mother continued her rocking, and the girl continued their crying, but in just little sniffles. She bent over, and kissed each of them on the top of their heads, and it seemed to quiet them.

When the eleventh bell rang out through the city, I twisted and turned. I would wait till the twelfth bell. That was what I had told myself. Because that was when my parents would be at their most aloof and I would be able to slip away without them noticing. So I continued to wait, and the rain continued to pour.

My parents were slowly bringing things back down in the chest and doing their checks and double checks, making sure we were bringing everything back. And every time they would bend down or turn their attention to either my sisters or the chest, they would be too busy to notice as I slowly inched my way closer to the back door.

Then there was a moment of silence as both of my parents were thinking, and the noon bell rang, loud and clear throughout the city. I seized the moment and opened the door, closing it just as lighting and thunder shot down just a few ways away. I didn't think, my feet just moved. Soon, I found that I was running across the yards and between houses, my shoes being soaked in mud and rain water. My head was overly damp and weighed down like a heavy weight on my head. Thunder and lightning crash like symbols. But the thunder was just calling back the lost dreams, I repeated my mother's words in my head.

When I got to the tree, I didn't see anyone. And my heart deflated. I felt stupid and too hopeful, to believe that the post boy would actually tell Rukia about me. I was stupid.

"Rukia!" I screamed out.

I was about ready to cry again when…

"Ichigo!"

I looked up and there she was. Her hair had grown out a lot since the last year, but her eyes were still those wide doe eyes, deep purple with that tint of blue. She was still tall, around my height, but her face, it was in an expression I had never seen on her. She looked scared, frightened, tears running down her cheeks. Her eyes were puffy and red and nose irritated and flaming. That was possibly the scariest thing to see, that someone I had always thought so strong, was now looking so defeated. It was a horrifying realization: that realization that people are human.

"I-I thought Hanataro was lying to me," she sniffed. "I-I thought you weren't actually here."

Then the lightning flashed and the thunder roared. Rukia jumped, yelped, and flew her body back into the trunk of the tree. She was crying… she was scared of the thunder.

"Rukia," I whispered gently.

And without thinking, I wrapped my arms around her and hugged her. If she were in any other state, she would have probably have hit me. But with her so desperately weak, she clung to me and sobbed into my shoulder. It was strange, that Rukia had suddenly started acting like the nine year old that she actually was.

"I thought you were mad at us," Rukia sobbed. "I thought that we had done something wrong. I thought that you had forgotten about us."

I smoothed her hair like I had seen my mother doing to Karin and Yuzu. My lips turned into a frown as I listened to her. It hurt a little to think that she would think such things. But she continued to cry as I tried to pull her closer. She was wet too, soaking actually, and I wondered just how long she had been out here.

"I'm sorry," I apologized gently. "I-I wouldn't forget about you guys. I never will."

There was a loud crash of thunder.

"Kia!" Rukia gripped onto me tighter. Her tears were falling in a shower; she truly was terrified of this storm.

" Rukia…" I started gently, "Are you scared of-,"

_BOOM!_

She cried out. And I felt guilty. She was horrified of this about as much as I was terrified of loosing someone important.

"I hate the thunder," she said between sobs, "I hate the thunder. But when Hanataro came and t-told me about you l-looking for me… I had to c-come and s-see you."

There was another flash – her mouth opened – and then a crash – she screamed.

I pulled her in even closer so that she was practically sitting on me. It was strange for me to comfort her, since all these years it had been her comforting me. But now, I didn't mind holding her. Thinking that, my heart skipped. My breath hitched. My mind went numb. As the thunder continued to roll, I found myself looking down at her trembling body, and my heart ached. It hurt to see her like that.

"Rukia," I whispered to her.

She held onto me tighter, but found the power in herself to just peek up at me. Her eyes were shining bluer.

"I-Ichigo…?"

The lightning is all of the lost dreams fall down here onto the ground. The thunder is the sky's way of calling all those lost dreams back, so that we can all look up and have something to look forward to. I wanted to say this to her. I wanted to tell her how the thunder was necessary, just like she was necessary to me. But I wasn't sure if I had said that, or if I had even told her. My mind was blank. But I am sure of what happened next.

In my head, I had thought of the scenario of my mother and the twins. How she rocked them, and cooed those words into their ears. I thought of how she smoothed their hair. Then I thought of how she hushed them. She had kissed them on their heads.

I leaned over, closer to her. And I saw all the colors in her eyes: blue, purple, cyan, black, and oddly some silvery gray. Her skin was so pale and she looked at me, as though not knowing what to do for the first time in her life. I pulled only slightly away from her, just enough to feel her breath on my collar.

And I pressed my lips onto hers.

I had meant to aim for her forehead, or the top of her head. I had maybe hoped to get her cheek perhaps, but her lips… I didn't mean to kiss her there. It was a strange feeling, how my body moved on its own again. I could feel her teeth on the other end and I'm sure she could feel mine. She obviously wasn't sure what to do either, her eyes half open. I could see as her mind reeled, trying to make sense of what he was doing. But as her eyes came into full open shock, they pulled back at the same time.

"Ah…"

I don't know who said it, but it was a very good sum up of what both of us were thinking. It had felt weird. Sparks? I wasn't too certain. It felt soft, but at the same time rough and awkward. It was slimy, and kind of disgusting. But I also had this weird shiver go through my spine that was exhilarating at the same time a bit mind numbing.

Our moment of shock was put into a permanent hold, no time to process, as there was another loud boom. But this time, it wasn't the thunder that had crashed. I now say that I was there during the bombing of the Seireitei Time Tower.

* * *

"Ichigo!" My mother called in panic. She didn't ask me where I had gone or if I was hurt or okay or why I was muddy and wet. All she did was grabbed my hand and pulled me forcefully into the back of a car. She told me to stay close by and both my parents looked around themselves the whole way down to the docks. Yuzu and Karin were taking a sound nap in my father's arms.

At the docks, I saw all the chaos going around me. The people were running about, some were stopping to stare at… what? I didn't know, I didn't have time to look around myself to see.

"Isshin, get the things on quick," my mother told my dad as she took the twins from his arms. Karin was snoring lightly into my mother's shoulder. The rain had since ceased, but something else was putting my parent's on edge, and I didn't dare ask in fear of their agitation.

"Ichigo, stay here honey, by the boat." My father had commanded to me. And so I stood perfectly still as I watched my mother go up and talk to who I thought was the captain, and my father was hurrying to put our chest in with all the others.

Men and women alike were running into me, not looking where they were going. They were all looking back into the city with wide and scared eyes. Mothers were pulling their children along, mumbling words of "ignore it" or "c'mon, we have to move faster". I wanted to look too, but I was scared of what I might have found. Though I could have guessed, there was a large trail of smoke filling the sky. A fire.

"Ichigo! We found you!"

I turned, and there was Renji and Rukia.

"Niku-kun!" I said teasingly. Suddenly, the chaos didn't really seem to exist. "Hi-chan!"

Renji pouted, "Yeah, yeah… Niku-kun."

I laughed. Rukia looked like she had dried her eyes since she had encouraged me to go back to my family. She had looked quiet terrified at that time, as though she was scared of something else beside the thunder at that moment. She had looked like she wasn't telling me something. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, I wanted to see you," Renji said sheepishly. "And, we have something to give you."

Something to give me?

"Here," Rukia held out her hand. She was holding a stuffed animal, a lion of some sort. It was orange with a little button in the middle of it. "This is Kon."

"This is…"

"Our favorite stuffed lion." Renji told me. "We're giving him to you."

I looked down. "I can't take him."

"Yes," Rukia insisted, "You have to take him. We trust you with him. And so when you come back, we can all play with him together."

It was a gesture of their trust in me. They were showing me that they were really putting everything into me. I smiled back at them.

"Then I have something to give to you too," I told the two of them. And then I reached into my shirt and pulled out the charm. The gold and silver center shined and glimmered in the summer sun. I fingered it in my palms before pulling the leather thong over my head.

"This," I told them, "This is a necklace that means a lot. It is supposed to protect you from bad things."

Rukia took it from my hands and she looked it over. "It really is pretty…"

When she said that I couldn't help but feel a bit prideful. Especially since it was her saying it. Ah… so she really was a girl in my eyes…

* * *

_Your eyes, were the brightest of all the colors_

_I don't ever want to ever love another_

_You'll always be my thunder_

* * *

**End Chapter 4**

Yes, so in response to Masaki's family: No she is not rich. Ichigo is of normal lineage. I always kind of miss this sort of simplicity of well known family names. In small towns you can still experience this, but in big cities I don't think anymore. This idea of a family that has been somewhere for generations and so is known by the community. They aren't given any special treatment or are held up on a pedestal, but they are very well known.

And as to why Ichigo says that he was there at the bombing of the Time Tower, but he then seems aloof of what is going on at the docks, is because of this idea that he is recalling this moment in time. He knows now that it was the bombing of the Time Tower, but at the time, he was confused of what all the chaos was about :P Oh innocent Ichigo…

So do ask some questions if you have any. Sorry for the jumbled mess since half was written on my phone and the other half was written in a haste on my about to die computer. But the song is Thunder by Boys Like Girls.

Please review if you can and I'll update soon as possible!


	5. Chapter 5

Hello! So I'm pushing myself to finish up this story fast. Even if this is the second to last chapter, I want this whole story done before I start school in a few weeks. But yes, more explanations!

So the schooling system, let's say is universal for all three of the countries. They start school in early April and end in early March. They have three major breaks: one in July, one in December/January, and one in March between school years. Each break is about three weeks long and the break determines the start and end of the three trimesters. There is a test in the middle of the year around August and an exam at the end of the year at the end of February.

The different levels in school go Primary/Elementary school (1st-6th grade), Middle school (7th-9th grade), and High school (10th-12th grade). Ages go respectively like in most courty's schools. Now, Karakura – being the small island that it is – only has one build for each such schools. In my world, let's just say that you are only required seven years of schooling, so technically **you can join the working force at the age of thirteen**.

And the orphanages are given tutors for the children to learn very basic reading and writing, but beyond that they are at a lost. Because Renji was given to the orphanage at an age where he could have started an education, he can read and write much more than Rukia can. Rukia, though not entirely dumb, cannot do either. She was too young to have been put into to school and so, though she is smart, lack the ability to conjugate, write, and read.

**Chapter 5**

* * *

_Heaven forbid, you end up alone_

_And you don't know why_

_Hold on tight, wait for tomorrow _

_You'll be alright_

* * *

The summer that I turned eleven, I had not been prepared for how much one year could change things. When May came around, the twins turned six. We celebrated it like we always did, at home, with my mother cooking, and the windows draped in the bright apricot curtains.

I had received several letters from Rukia since the last summer. One talked about how she and Renji had come to liking the view from on top of a reservoir, they said that they could see practically all of Seireitei from the ledge. Another was about how happy she was that I gave her the necklace. She described as best her vocabulary could how she wore it with her all the time.

_Sometimes I'll talk to it like you're here too. __**Don't laugh! **_

And I of course I laughed when I read that. Whenever I passed by the postal station every week, I always looked forward to picking up a letter mailed just for me. Her grammar, handwriting, and vocabulary were still very hard to decipher – and the coding never helped either –, but I never complained. The longer it took me to read, the happier I was. And when I was finished, I would immediately lock myself in my room and write her a reply.

But that day at dinner, my sisters were talking animatedly to my parents about school and how their peers all wished them a happy birthday. Usually, at some point my parents would mention something about needing to be thinking about what we wanted to pack. I cared for my sisters about as much as any other brother would love their siblings, but nothing made me happier than when my parents would mention Seireitei at dinner. But no one said anything about that.

Time went on as usual. I went to school and would find myself daydreaming about the different places and the different games that we would play. It never helped that my friends wanted to play the new version of hide and seek tag in the Banyan trees. I would sometimes pretend like the bark was the smooth oiliness of the pear tree, and so as I went up I would purposefully slip off a foot just for affect.

My mother fell sick just a week later. I wasn't sure why I was so surprised by the fact though. Ever since the bombing that past summer my mother hadn't been feeling too well and it wasn't until recently that her condition had gotten to the way it did. Before it was just the occasional coughing fits; but now they were accompanied by high fevers and weakness. But I just never saw it coming. She seemed completely healthy until that night when she just suddenly collapsed in the middle of the hallway, her orange hair spread out around her like a sea, and she was gasping for air…drowning.

Since her illness worsened, I can only count a few times that my mother ever left her room, much less her own bed. The sickly look in her eyes and the hoarseness in her voice was enough to bring any man to his knees, especially my father. The sad look on his face when she would begin to cough as though she were choking always made my sisters on the verge of tears; I just wanted to hide them from it all.

I was so naïve. Back then, I used to think that if I could become stronger, then maybe I'd be able to protect everyone, even my mom. So I talked to my instructor and he allowed me to stay at the dojo for an extra half hour everyday to train a little more, one on one. That sympathetic look on his face when he agreed should have told me that even he knew it would never work.

Then, a few days before our usual departure from the docks, I received a letter from Rukia. It may have just been me, but she sounded so sad, so lonely in her writing.

"_Ichigo_"_, _she wrote. She had gotten better at writing my full name. "_Summer has just started and the hot sun has come out. The center of your sun blinks really bright when I go up to the reservoir. Renji likes to look out over the ocean and sometimes says that he can see your island from up here. On a really sunny day like today was, I can too, and I can see that really bright orange hair of yours. We sometimes wave and imagine that you're out there, waving back at us. _

"_They're almost done building the new time tower. Renji and I already explored it and know all the cool places to hide and this really big space where we can play King of Tricks. I can't wait for you to come now because I have a lot of new games to teach you and awesome places to show you. Just you wait!_"

Seeing the terribly signed picture in the bottom corner didn't help my already falling tears. My hands shook as the floated above the paper. Out of routine, I had run up stairs and locked myself in my room, ready to write a response. But with my pen in hand and the paper lying on my desk, I was at a blank. How would I write to her that I would not be coming this year? How could I write this and not crush her spirits? Should I even write the letter? She would most likely realize that when the ship from Hakutan docks at the harbor and I was not coming off, she would then realize that I was not coming long before this message would reach her.

I stared blankly at the paper. The word 'Hi-chan' was written neatly at the top and my pen tapped rhythmically against my desk. What to write? What to write?

But my hand began to grow a mind of its own as it began to glide across the page and created words. I didn't think, I just wrote. And when I was finished, I read what my sub-conscience had conjured up. Tears started to swell in my eyes as I read all the anger, sadness, confusion and fear that filled my writing. I cracked a smile, thinking that half of the words, Rukia wouldn't be able to understand, and even Renji wouldn't be able to help her. So I crumpled the paper and started a new letter, this time with easier to understand words and simpler explanations. But I'll never forget how much my hands were shaking as I signed the bottom of the page.

And like our broken promise, my name would forever be stained on that piece of paper.

_Ichigo,_

_I'm sorry. I really am. Maybe if I was there I could help you somehow. I didn't know and all I did was tell you about how Renji and I were doing. It must be really hard for you right? Of course, don't answer the question, I already know the answer. _

_I saw that you didn't come off the dock. Then I got your letter and I knew why. Renji misses you too. I hope your family gets better._

There was the usual drawn signature in the corner of the letter but it wasn't written in code like would have been. I had received it a month and half later. It was a short letter, much shorter than the usual. But that didn't mean much to me; it was how sorry she seemed that really got to me. I immediately wrote back that she didn't need to apologize and that it shouldn't have been something for her to worry about. Maybe it was my growing guilt that I started to hide my sadness.

I didn't get her response till after school midyear exams. I had passed by the mail office on my home and the man working there said that there was a letter in for me. I was so happy that I didn't wait to go home to open and read it.

"_Ichigo_," it had read, "_You didn't have to make me feel better. Renji said that it must be a sad time for you now. Ichigo, you must keep your head up and believe! Your mom must be a strong person and you need to let her know that so that she can get better faster. _

"_The new Time Tower is done and it works great! When it rings sometimes, the mockingbirds will fly away like a wave and the city sometimes have just a big shadow of birds over it." _

The signature at the bottom was abrupt. It was as though the writing had just cut off there, there was no sort of conclusion to her message to me. It was like her thoughts had come to a halt there.

It had bothered me then, but I soon could hardly notice the slow change in her tone when she wrote, how she started to sound so distant, almost as if it weren't her writing. My mom's illness took a turn for the worst. She would sleep for days on end and would only be awake enough to drink a glass of water before she fell back to sleep. My time was mainly spent either in the dojo or at home by my mother's bedside. School had become a sort of second priority in my mind, so a stop by the post office was one of the last things I'd do in the week. If not, then I wouldn't drop by till the end of the month.

I remember one afternoon after the winter break, the last trimester of my sixth year had just started. End of year exams would be in just a few months and I was studying hard for them. In my own mind, if I worked hard and didn't give too much trouble then my family would have less to worry about. Despite my father constantly telling me that I should not get myself caught up in self responsibily, I couldn't help but get angry at him for his carefree take on the whole situation.

Despite my mother's increasingly worrying illness, my father continued to act like everything was just as is. When I would yell at him about it, he wouldn't sit or justify himself, he'd just take my anger. Then when I no longer had the energy to berate him, he'd just give me one leveled stare and walk off.

"Your father has always been very good at keeping a cool head." my mother told me once when she had woken up from one of her naps. "But it does not mean that he isn't worrying on the inside. He just has a very passive approach on his grief."

"Save your energy," I told her. She looked as though every word she spoke took her an extra amount of effort that would be wasted.

"You know that you are meant to be a protector," My mom said with a huff.

"Yes."

"So protect what is important to you okay Ichigo. Promise me that."

I nodded. "I promise."

She chuckled a bit before coughing. I stood immediately and reached for her water. Tilting her head back gently I allowed her to take a few generous sips. When the coughing recieded, her eyes were fluttering closed again.

"Ichigo," she weased.

"Yes?" I leaned in closer to her so that she wouldn't have to raise her voice too much.

And in a very clumsy mumble, she told me very softly, "I love you."

"I love you too..."

Saying those four words seemed to make her smile wider than what anyone had ever told her. And if there was anything in my life that I would never change, those four words I had told my mother would be number one. Because even if I hadn't known it yet, those were the last words she'd ever hear.

The next day, I was getting ready to go to school when I walked in to my father holding my mother's hand as it layed limp beside her. She never looked so deathly pale, nor had she ever looked so...dead. Her chest was still and her eyes unmoving. There was no flutter in her lids at the sound of my footsteps entering the room. She wasn't breathing and she wasn't moving. There was absolutely no life in her. Her pail complexion looked almost gray.

There were nights that I would sometimes dream that I'd wake up and I wouldn't find my mother in her bed. Instead I'd find her maybe in the backyard, six feet under. On those nights, that was possibly the worst possibility of that happening. But after a while, I started becoming accustomed to the situation that I wouldn't find her in her bed. The dreams weren't any less scary, but at least after a while, I didn't wake up every night screaming.

So seeing that I could actually see her there, in bed, and not in the yard, I felt almost numb. There were no words processing in my mind, not action. As my sisters came rushing in, tears streaming down their face, I stood perfectly still. While my father – who usually treated situations like these with a brush of the shoulder – was hunched over my mother's lifeless body, holding her hand and mumbling incoherent words, I remained silent and stoic. For an eleven year old, my face must have been too old for my body.

The only action that I could think of was that I couldn't cry, I wouldn't cry. If my sisters were crying and dad was breaking down, I had to be the one to be strong. I couldn't be the one to break down crying. Because I had to be the one to protect them, just like my name said. If they couldn't be strong at that moment, I would be.

So I didn't cry. Not at her bedside and not at her funeral. I kept my face stone cold so that there was only one less person that would be shedding tears. Even if all the adults gave me those wary glances before turning away, I wouldn't as so much allow my impassive mask to slip. My sixth year had just ended, and already, I felt like my life had extended to being a fifty year old man. But I found that I couldn't face my old sensei, the father of a girl in my class. He had been so supportive of my extra training that I felt like he was one of the few people I had failed. So I told him that I was quitting his dojo when I saw him and his daughter giving us their condolences.

"Are you sure you want to do that? You are a natural fighter with more determination than I had ever seen in any of my past students." He had told me.

"But I was only determined because I had something to fight for," I responded, unable to meet his eyes. "Now, I don't have anything to fight for."

My father had done his best to try and keep life going as it usually did. We had gotten used to doing the things my mother had done around the house. I would always get the groceries after school, Yuzu took up cooking at her small age of six, and Karin put our clothes in the soap water to clean. My dad did everything else. And through all his jokes and taunts, after my mother's death, there had never been a time that I had respected my father more, even if I'm too prideful to admit it.

People would make comments on how brave I was, to not have shed a tear, to not have bawled like everyone thought I would have. They told me that it was alright to cry, to mourn. But I wouldn't.

When my seventh year started, and I moved to the middle school building on the North side of Karakura, I wasn't excited to ride the canal that ran from the East to the West edges of our island to go to school. Instead, I dreaded going back. I had practically gotten used to shutting myself in my house, busying myself with chores to keep my mind off of my mother's death. But if I were to come face to face with all of my classmates again, I was afraid that they'd give me those pity looks.

Pity was something I had come to hate. It made me mad, and I would feel my cheeks burn. I didn't need pity, I needed empathy. And empathy seemed to be something that most of the people on Karakura couldn't give me. To Karakura, I was just the poor boy who lost his mother to a terrible sickness caused by bomb fumes. To Karakura, I was just the doctor's boy.

"Ichigo," one of my friends would say to me. "Are you alright?"

And there was that pity. That pity that made my face boil.

Though I couldn't really blame them for it, I really couldn't.

* * *

As the year went on, I found that keeping up my indifferent façade was becoming harder and harder to keep up. It was a struggle within its self to stay so strong. But I suppose that was my mistake, for thinking that indifference was strength.

I was coming close to my twelfth birthday, and yet I was growing numb to all of the things kinds my age took pleasure in. It wasn't healthy, and I was too busy "being strong" to notice that I had pushed away all of my friends. My family was wary to speak to me, seeing as how they too were trying to get over their own grief.

"Ah, well isn't it the boy with the stone hard face."

The voice was unexpected, and much too playful for my foul mood.

"Over here boy."

I had been walking home after school, alone as usual. And here was a man in clog sandals and a striped bucket hat.

"What do you want sir?" I asked him, trying not to be rude, but I didn't want to talk to him.

"Boy with a stone hard face, what makes you think that I want something?"

I remember thinking that he was annoying.

"You wouldn't just stop me for no reason."

"Mmh," he hummed. His eyes were hidden under his bucket hat. "Pragmatic boy. But boy with a stone hard face needs to learn to be more respectful."

I could see him smirk, eyes still hidden.

"I don't need your pity." I said, walking away.

"Whoever said I was giving you any?"

I paused and turned back to him, but he was no longer there. Where he once stood, hat tipped covering his eyes, was now just air. And that had been my first encounter with the dock master and inn keeper Urahara Kisuke.

The next day, I had seen him again on my way back from school.

"Boy with a stone hard face has returned."

"This is my path home." I had told him.

He tipped his bucket hat lower and smirked at me.

"I see," He mused. "But boy with a stone hard face's father is the island doctor, am I right?"

"Everyone knows that," I said looking away from him, shoving my hands into the pockets of my shorts.

"Maybe I should call you the doctor's boy instead," He chuckled to himself. "But 'boy with a stone hard face' is long, but with such a nice ring, don't you think? Boy with a stone hard face… hmm?"

I frowned.

"I have a name you know."

He smirked. "Is that right? Then tell me boy with a stone hard face, what _is_ your name?"

I thought about not telling him. I thought about just turning on my heels and leaving. But I thought about how long it had been since I had said my own name. Everyone on the island –more or less – knew me on sight. The boy who lost his mother, the doctor's son. How long had it been since I had actually said my name?

"Well? Boy with a stone hard face, what is your name?" He repeated again. "If you don't have one, I can continue calling you boy with a stone hard face. Or perhaps I should call you doctor's boy. Or maybe Orange head? I think I like that one-,"

"Kurosaki Ichigo."

And he stopped, his hat still shading his eyes. But his smirk grew wider. "Ku-ro-sa-ki Ichi…go…"

He enunciated every single syllable with a carefulness that was just a little unnerving. It was as though he was dissecting my name, tasting it, measuring it. And it scared me.

"Kurosaki Ichigo," He smirked wider. "Nice name for a doctor's boy. Who are you protecting?"

The question took me off guard. I think back and wonder why it didn't sting, why I didn't snap at him. Perhaps he had said it in such a way that didn't show any malice or expectancy. He was just truly curious, wondering. It brought on such a nostalgic feeling that I couldn't help but just look up at him, eyes wide, and ask him to repeat his question.

"Who," He began to repeat for me, "are you protecting?"

I looked down at my hands. Who was I protecting?

"I…" I searched in my head, his question reeling. "I can't remember."

"Hmm," he hummed. "Well, if I had a name such as yours, I'd protect the one that held my heart, ne? Doesn't that sound good?"

I looked back up at him. He had lifted his head so that his bucket hat was no longer covering his eyes. They looked gray, like calm clouded days, and much softer than I had thought they would have been. He bent down so that he was face to face with me, leaning in.

"So tell me Kurosaki-kun," He smirked at me, "who holds this boy's heart?"

I stared at him. Who held my heart… that was what my mother had always told me. I'd protect the one who held my heart. And the one person who held my heart since the very beginning was…

"I've got to go sir!" I said turning on my heels and running. I turned earlier than I usual would on my ways home. It was an old road that I no longer traveled, a longer road, but one that I knew. Coming up ahead was the postal station, just how I remembered it. And sitting at the counter was that same post man that used to annoyingly call me Kurosaki-san then Kurosaki-kun.

"How may I…" The post man paused, narrowed his eyes, examining me. Then recognition passed over and he gave me a smile. "Well, I haven't seen you in some time Kurosaki-kun."

"A-a…" I huffed, out of breath from running. "A letter? Do I have a letter?"

He tilted his head, thinking. "I'd have to check… I can't really recall if I was expecting one for you."

Getting off of his seat, he went into the back of the station and disappeared. There was a lot of shuffling and scraping. I heard the post man grunt a couple of times, too. When he came back out, he had a letter in his hand with Ichi-kun written on the front. It was a little dusty when he handed it to me.

"I forgot about that one. It came in earlier this year." He said. "Probably before your mother-…" He stopped himself.

I didn't make a comment. I just gave him a small bow and thanked him, walking out with a stoic expression.

I didn't read it there at the post office. I took it home, fingering it in my pocket till I got up my bedroom where I locked myself. Pulling it out, I ran my fingers over the text and sighed. The wax that held it together was hard to peel off, cold and sticky. The letter that was inside was no longer white, almost a creamy brown, and the paper felt thin and worn. The scratches on the paper were faded, as though they had been erased and rewritten thousands of times. There was no signature picture on the bottom corner and there was no coding. The script its self was short, of very few words.

"_Ichigo,_" it had started.

"_It sounds silly to say that I wish you were here right now. But I really do, and so I keep your necklace with me every night. It is selfish and I know it, but I can't help but wish it. I'm sure that things for you are hard enough, and so you don't need me burdening you more with my wants. No Ichi-kun… I wouldn't do that to you. _

"_I know that I may have been feeling distant in my letters. And I know I seem a like I'm hardly there for you in your times of need. I wish I could be there for you, and I know it may sound like a lie. I honestly haven't been there for you these past few months, not even in spirit. But Ichigo, please, believe that if I were to tell you anything right now, I'd say them to you with all the feeling I could ever give anyone. But I only have this letter to give, and you just have to believe me that I mean every word. _

"_I want to tell you that you that you are my greatest friend, I want to tell you that you have helped me in so many ways, that you are amazing. I want to tell you that you've made me smile, that with you the thunder wasn't so scary, or that I'm sorry… But out of all the things I want to tell you, if I had to choose only one, I'd know easily what it would have to be._

"_**Thank you, Kurosaki Ichigo**__"_

And the letter ended there. There was no signature or drawing, no "PS" note scribbled messily at the bottom. I didn't like it. It felt so resolute, so final. It felt like she had been saying goodbye, and I didn't like it. Rummaging through my closet for some paper and a pen, I found Kon: that impossibly kid-ish lion doll that I had gotten from Rukia and Renji almost two years ago. I pulled it out when I got the paper.

Putting it neatly on my desk beside my lamp, I stared at it, pen tapping against the wood. What would I write back? I'd protect the one who holds my heart. And my heart was with her, my mind didn't know. But for a moment, I let my heart take over, and it knew exactly what to write. There weren't many words. I only wrote the thing that I needed to tell her.

_Don't worry, I'll protect you. _

And I put it in an envelope, writing Hi-chan on the front. But I didn't go back to the postal station just yet. I waited because I had more. I waited till after by birthday that was only a week away. I'd wait till then to send them a few sen, and then Rukia'd know to buy two tickets for Hokutan then connect to a fishing boat to Karakura. They'd know it.

And so I waited for my birthday to come around. And when it did, I kept my face masked as I received the usual candle for me to blow out and ten or so sen folded in red. I noticed that night, how my sisters and my father were looking much livelier than they had in a while. I had noticed how they were getting on, moving on.

But for me, I was just about to learn how fragile time was. I was about to find that many things can happen in the span of only a few moments of our lives

The next morning, I walked out to the postal station after giving Kon a salute. Walking in, the postman greeted me with a "hello Kurosaki-kun". Then he leaned over the counter, giving me a smile, "What can I do for you?"

I reached up, placing the envelope on his counter. I slid it closer to him. He picked it up carefully and looked it over. Then he frowned and handed the letter back.

"I want to send it," I told him, not taking it back.

"I can't send it." He told me.

"What do you mean you can't send it?" I asked him. "I want you to send it to Seireitei."

"I know you do. You used to always want to send a letter to this Hi-chan in Seireitei." He said. "But I'm telling you that I can't do that."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "And why can't you do that."

"Because…" He bit his lip. "Because… boy, haven't you been looking at the papers?"

There was a pause.

"The papers?" I repeated.

The post man nodded. Reaching down under his counter, he pulled out a stack of newspapers. Prints upon prints of writing, he handed them to me.

"Just last week," He said slowly, "The government gave an order that there would be an embargo between Ningen and the rest of the world."

My eyes widened. "W-why would we do that?"

He looked down at me, eyes dark. "Where have you been boy? Seishin and Kokkaku are at war."

I hadn't bothered to look down at the papers till then. The very first headline introducing the embargo in direct response to the war. Then I turned the page, and the next one was a little older, talking about high tensions. Walking out of the postal station, I ignored the post man's calls to me. I walked slowly, reading, and absorbing all the things that I had missed in my moments of "stone hardness".

I hadn't realized that I was walking home till I came across my front door step. Yuzu had opened the door, and she screamed.

"Tou-san!" she yelled. "Tou-san! Onii-chan is crying!"

I reached a hand to my face. My cheeks were wet. I hadn't noticed it. My senses felt numb. I could barely hear, I could barely stay conscious. Dragging my feet across the floor, I didn't bother to remove my shoes and just let myself fall onto the couch. The papers spread themselves on the floor and the coffee table. I stared blank eyed at nothing as my father and my sisters came rushing down. Tears dripped down my chin and fell onto my knees as my vision blurred to almost nothing.

"Ichigo!" my father was unsure of what to do. He awkwardly patted my back, tried to assure me and ask me what was wrong.

"Tou-san!" Yuzu screeched, "What's wrong with Onii-chan?"

"Ichi-nii," Karin pleaded, "W-why are you crying."

Slowly, I thought I'd pass out. My vision was darkening, and I tried to look around and regain my head. But there was no helping it. I didn't know what to think. Then, just as I was getting a hold on myself, I looked back down to the papers. Big, bold, and capitalized letters popped out at me. Dated back in April… "**MAJOR BOMBING IN SEIREITEI'S SEVENTY-EIGHTH DISRECT – NO SURVIORS**"

I retched before passing out.

* * *

_Don't know how to get you out of this one_

_Don't know how to get you out of this one_

_Don't know how to get you out of this one_

_Don't know how to get you out of this one_

* * *

**End Chapter 5**

Yay! Next chapter is the last one :D At least for this part of my Coming of Age story ;) So yes, what did you think of the ending of this chapter? Just wondering. Do you get it? Or was I too vague?

But anyways… This chapter and next (the last one) will be relatively much shorter than the other four (Mainly because they only deal with sort moments of time).

I was originally going to put much different lyrics down, but then my cousin started blasting a bunch of The Fray songs while we were in the car. And this one came up and I thought that the lyrics fit much better. Actually, the lyrics changed the course of this story a bit too. Originally, I was going to have Ichigo give the letter, it sends, then the embargo, then the whole war thing. But I think I like this way better :P

So the song is Heaven Forbid by The Fray.

Please **review **and I'll update the last chapter as soon as I can!


	6. Chapter 6

Yay! Fast update! Oh, I just had to xP I was too exited to not!

This chapter is going to be REALLY short compared to the other ones… actually, compared to anyone's standards 0_o for reasons that it is serving as more of an epilogue/ prelude to my next project… or more next installment to this little series I'm making.

One thing to explain: Karakura is a small island, but not that small. It's small enough that it only needs one of each section of school and one post office. But it isn't small enough that you know literally everyone. I'd estimate that there are at least 20,000 people. And just so you get a sense of the size of the island, let's say it is about 90 km^2 (or 55 mi^2).

I think that's all necessary explanations are out of the way for now, so just enjoy this last chapter or don't enjoy it, that's cool too…

**Chapter 6**

* * *

_If you asked me, how I'm doing_

_I would say I'm doing just fine_

_[…]_

_Finally I'm forced to face the truth_

* * *

"You know it does no good to just sulk around."

"I know that."

"So why do you do it?"

"I'm not."

"Then what do you call sitting and staring off into the middle of the ocean."

"Being sentimental."

"Sentimental? Big word for a twelve year old."

"Hmm… I've decided to make myself better."

"Better, how?"

"I'll grow stronger, physically and mentally. And becoming something better, I'll protect a mountain of people."

"And what brought up that thought?"

"Someone who would have done the same, I'll do it for them."

"And why would you do it for this someone?"

"Because that someone changed me."

"Ah... Well, that is a bold statement to make, doctor's boy."

"I'm not 'doctor's boy'."

"I know, I know… you are I-,"

"Ichigo… I _am _Kurosaki Ichigo."

…

"You really shouldn't sulk."

"I'm not, I'm just being sentimental."

* * *

They say it's all the bitter things in your life that truly make everything else that much sweeter. And as I walked along the stoned pavement just by the side of the Karakura canal, I couldn't help but think that it was such a sunny day. I reached out my hand, and looked up to the bright sun. My eyes squinted and there was a moment where a light breeze blew by between my fingers. Lids closing, the smell of pear trees swirled around me. It was so nostalgic that my lips turned into a sad smile.

Fluttering across my fingers, I felt something land in my hand: a piece of paper. Bringing it closer, it was a letter with one line of coded chicken scratch handwriting and an all too familiar crappy drawing of… something in the bottom corner.

_Did you miss us? _It read.

Looking up, in front of me, Rukia and Renji stood smirking their usual happy and overconfident smirks.

"Yo." Renji saluted. "Well? You did miss us right?"

I just stood there in place, not moving. Face stone hard.

"Ichigo," Rukia screamed. "It's been so long, you baka, aren't you going to say hello at least? We went through all that trouble of using that money you sent us to buy those stupid tickets. A week and a half on a boat! Can you imagine that?"

I didn't move. Rukia looked hurt, and Renji just stopped smiling. They looked too real, it was painful. And in one swift movement, they both leaped out to me, arms open wide, inviting. And I opened my own arms, ready to embrace them. I was ready to embrace them.

But just before they reached my outstretched arms, I felt it burn, and they just blew away in the wind. I flailed my fingers, trying to get some sort of grip onto them, but just felt the air as it slipped away. And through it all, I could only smell the painfully nostalgic smell of pear trees blooming in the summer.

"_**Thank you, Kurosaki Ichigo**__."_

Bolting my eyes open, I was laying on my side in my room. Jolting up to a sitting position, I looked out the large window on my bedside. The streets were just lighting up with the Karakura autumn sun. I ran my hand through my hair. It had grown so that it was hanging just over my eyes now. My body felt too large and too heavy, even if I was used to being this big now.

Dreams… I always have dreams. But when morning comes, I could never remember them. I knew that they were unsettling, giving much more emotions than I could ever want, but I never could remember why. Shuffling out of my bed, I threw my feet over the edge and got up, making my way to my closet. After getting dressed, I gave one full hearted salute to Kon sitting on my desk before heading out.

"Are you leaving for school Onii-chan?" Yuzu asked.

"Yeah, I want to get there early to help the student council to put up flyers for the new trimester lunch menu." I told her, grabbing a toast from Karin's plate.

"Oi, Ichi-nii," Karin fumed, "Just because you're in a hurry doesn't mean that you can take things from _my _plate."

"Ah, but thank you Karin," I said to her. Waving, I walked to the door, pausing. It seemed oddly quite for the morning.

"Ichigo!"

I had thought too soon.

"Old man," I greeted dryly, lifting my hands in a fist, punching him square in the jaw. He reeled back, stumbling into the couch.

"Ichigo, you baka of a son!"

"I'm heading out now." I called back, ignoring my father's bleeding nose. He could be such a hassle some mornings, this time it was tame.

It had been four years. Four years, two months, and eleven days since… since everything had happened. Not that I was counting. But I was now in my second year at Karakura Senior High School, an eleventh grader. Sixteen years old and relieved that I had passed my midyear exams, keeping my student place as rank fifteen. So many things had changed since then, but I've learned to deal with it as I grew older.

I loved to walk by the ocean side, looking out across the blue waters. My walks to and from school had become longer, but it was the price I always paid to view the open sea. Stopping, I squinted my eyes into the distance. The silhouette of what I thought looked like a ship appeared just on the horizon line. As hopeful as I was, I knew that there were no ships coming.

Ever since the embargo, there had been an immediate decrease in boats going in and out from the docks. With the mainland a week or so's boat ride away, Hokutan had always been the Karakura fisherman's easiest way to sell their produce. Sail to Hokutan in three days, stay for a week till all your fish are gone, and then come back in three days. But with Hokutan being in Seishin territory that was no longer an option. Now the fishermen just stay on shore and sell their catch with the rest of the produce farmers.

Mail has become increasingly less and less frequent to get too, especially since very few of the people have relatives or business on the mainland. Not to mention Karakura had never been a big hot spot for tourism. So three years ago, Urahara had just decided to no turn on the lighthouse at night, leaving chains on the shed dock's sea doors. His inn went out of business as well - not that it ever had very much to begin with - and so he made his income with just selling overly priced goods at the inn's front counter.

It has been four years, two months, and eleven days. So many things had changed about Karakura... about the world... about me... But I was over most of it already. I had grown to be used to it. Now I just laugh at my childishness, thinking it funny that my younger self could have ever found the times in Seireitei to be borning or a waist.

Thanks to Rukia, my summers in Seireitei were never dull. Thinking back now, I can honestly say that it was because of her that my life changed for the better.

I sighed. They always did say that it was the bitter that made the sweet taste that much sweeter. And the sad, the sad times, were what made you really appreciate the happiness you are given.

I'll never forget her...

"Oi, boy," Urahara said. His bucket hat fell just over his eyes, and that annoyingly mischievous grin that I had grown to be accustomed to plastered on his face like a bad rendition of the Cheshire. He had a knack for always appearing out of nowhere. "Stop sulking."

The sun had risen above the horizon, and the silhouette was gone against the blue sky. It really has been four years, two months, and eleven days. Not that I was counting.

"I'm not," I said, "I'm just being sentimental."

* * *

_No matter what I say_

_I'm not over you_

* * *

**End The Frittle**

This story is FINISHED! Yay! Oh my, I'm so relieved that I finished it xD even if this chapter is about as short as poor, vertically challenged Rukia.

So if it was confusing before, the first part up until the bolded letters, it was a dream. Just so you know :3

But this is the end of my first installment of the A Coming of Age Story. This one was an introduction to this world that I created so that in the next story, some things will make a little more sense, and actually, by reading this part of the story, the next installment will be a much more pleasurable read :) So do look out for it, it will be entitled "**A Coming of Age Story: The Fray**". I want to start it this summer, but with school starting… I'm not sure how often I can update it. People say this coming year is going to be on hell of a work load -.- But I'm still excited to start as soon as I can!

Anyways, the song is Not Over You by Gavin DeGraw

Please **review **this last chapter! And I'll get on the next story ;)


End file.
